Doctor, Doctor
by TheHatterM
Summary: Dr Nadia Paolera has been alone all her life. She was a genius and more importantly, gifted. She preferred being alone if it meant her secret was safe. But then Captain Steve Rogers walked into her life, and everything she knew and believed in was thrown upside down. Captain Steve Rogers has no idea where he fits in this new world. Perhaps the kind, pretty doctor is the key.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N – So I haven't written for a while, and never for the Avengers. I think I last posted a story two years ago, so I'm hoping my writing has improved a little bit since then. I'll try to update as often as I can.  
This chapter sort of flowed out of me, and we're starting just before the Avengers. Please review if you feel so inclined.**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

 **Chapter One**

The first thing Steve noticed about the doctor was that she looked too young to be there. Heck, she didn't look old enough to _drink_. Her dark brown hair was drawn back in a messy bun, a few stubborn curls falling onto her forehead and around her glasses, which she pushed up her nose as they slid down her pert, pointed nose. To Steve she looked like some sort of pixie, with her small hands, her cute nose and the fact she couldn't be taller than five-feet.

She trailed behind Director Fury, whose hands were clasped behind his back, surveying Steve with his one remaining eye.

'This is Doctor Nadia Paolera. She'll take care of you, Captain.' With a nod to Steve, and what seemed like a reassuring glance aimed at Doctor Paolera, he swept from the room, his black trench coat swishing behind him. The door closed and Doctor Paolera turned to look Steve in the eye for the first time since she'd entered the room.

Steve decided her eyes were liked storm clouds. Dark, grey, and mysterious. Wordlessly, she picked up the clipboard attached to the end of the hospital bed he was sitting on. She read the charts silently, lifting the paperwork and not saying a word. The clock ticked on the wall.

'You look a little too young to be a Doctor.' Steve blurted. Doctor Paolera looked up at him, staring him right in the eyes.

She replied, 'You look a little too young to be a World War II veteran.'

Steve was surprised at her comeback and could only gape wordlessly. His ability to speak to women hadn't improved in the last seventy-odd years.

She pulled a pen out of her lab coat pocket. 'Could you follow the light with your eyes please?' she asked, turning the small flashlight on. After a moment, she said, 'I graduated high school at fifteen. I was accepted into medical school on a scholarship soon afterwards and SHIELD recruited me right out of medical school. I'm twenty-four. I mostly work in the E.R at Bellevue Hospital. I only get called in when Fury wants me to do something off the record.'

'Fifteen?' Steve repeated. She had a slight accent that Steve couldn't place. Doctor Paolera shut the light off and unlooped her stethoscope.

'I have a high IQ. I was bored in high-school and I always wanted to help people growing up. So, I became a doctor. Breathe in, please.'

Steve nodded. 'So what did you do to catch SHIELD's attention?'

The corner of Doctor Paolera's mouth twitched upwards as if she were going to smile. 'I have a few talents. One of them, it seems, is making sure a super soldier from 1945, who was frozen in ice, is alright to leave the hospital after his final assessment.'

Steve shifted a little, uncomfortable suddenly. She put the stethoscope away and picked up the clipboard. 'Yes it's been…an experience.'

She clicked her pen and began scribbling notes. 'Must be like waking up on a different planet.' she said.

Steve stared at her. 'Yes, ma'am. Exactly.'

Doctor Paolera laughed. 'You don't need to call me that, although it's very refreshing.' She stowed away her pen in her pocket and tucked the clipboard against her chest. 'You can just call me Nadia.'

'All due respect, ma'am, but when it comes to doctors, it seems wrong to call them by their first names.' Steve said, standing up from the bed.

'Well, then, _Captain_ ,' She stressed the word, smiling and pushing her glasses up her nose again, 'I am clearing you as medically fit. All your bloodwork is good and your heart and lungs are working fine.'

Steve hesitated. _What now?_ He doubted his apartment would still be available. And it's not like he had friends to stay with. This was a completely different world than he was used to.

Doctor Paolera noticed his hesitation. 'Look. I don't know what you're going through. Nobody does. So, there's no right or wrong way to take your next step. But whether you want to or not, you have to. My advice? Make one decision at a time and don't rush.'

Steve stood up with an almost inaudible sigh. He looked down at her. She was taller than he originally thought, the top of her head coming to his shoulder. 'I need to place to stay.'

The door swung open and Fury walked in, glancing at them both before settling his gaze on Steve. 'We've organised a small apartment for you, Captain. Nothing too flashy, but you'll be comfortable. We left a few files and pulled some things from storage for you.' He paused. 'Doctor Paolera, I assume this means that you've officially cleared him?'

'Yes.'

'Then would you please see the Captain out and show him his new apartment? I need to see to something elsewhere.'

'Yes, sir.'

Fury nodded respectfully at Steve. 'Captain.'

'Sir.' Steve inclined his head and Fury left the room as quickly as he entered. 'Is he always like that?'

'No.' Doctor Paolera shrugged out of her lab coat and draped it over her arm. Instead of scrubs underneath, she was wearing jeans, battered sneakers and a button up blouse. She grinned at Steve. 'Sometimes he gets grumpy. Come on.' She waved a hand for him to follow her.

He trailed behind her, glancing at all the offices, labs and jumping out of the way when agents dressed in black suits ran past, talking quickly into their headsets. Doctor Paolera picked up a small messenger's bag from the front desk and then walked out onto the busy New York street.

'Are you a SHIELD agent?' Steve asked when they paused at a cross walk. She shook her head, looking amused.

'Oh, no, definitely not. I'm more of a consultant.'

'And…just what is SHIELD? Nobody will give me a straight answer.' Steve added, annoyed. Doctor Paolera bit her lip as they crossed the road.

'After the war was over, Howard Stark, Colonel Phillips and Peggy Carter decided that there should be some kind of system in place. People who could deal with the strange, mysterious and taboo. To protect people from threats and, if they had to, neutralise them.' She glanced up at Steve. 'A lot of people think they chose the acronym 'shield' for you. So that you could be part of saving the world, even if you were gone.'

Steve was silent for a beat. 'What happened after I…went under?'

'Well, we defeated the Germans eventually. Hitler committed suicide rather than be captured. But the Japanese didn't surrender until the Allies dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.' She shuddered and Steve didn't ask what she meant. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. They walked in silence.

'Did you even hesitate?' she asked suddenly. Steve started.

'What?'

'When you realised that people were in danger and that to save them you had to sacrifice yourself, did you hesitate? Knowing that if you did it, you would never go home?'

Steve shook his head. 'No. Not for a second ma'am.'

She peered at him curiously from behind those dark rimmed glasses. Her grey eyes gave Steve the impression she was seeing right through him. 'You really are one of a kind, aren't you, Captain?'

Steve grinned, shrugging. 'I'm just a kid from Brooklyn.' Doctor Paolera laughed and they walked in silence for a while.

'Where are you from?' Steve asked after a while, his hands in his pockets.

'All over really. My parents died when I was little. I went into the foster system. I was lucky. When I graduated early and got a scholarship, my foster parents let me go away to college. So long as they got that cheque in the mail, they would have let me run wild.' She smirked. 'Which I did, anyway.'

'No husband?'

She scoffed. 'God, no.'

'Oh.'

'Oh?" she repeated. 'Is that surprising?'

'Well, I just figured…' Steve babbled feeling his face flush as the Doctor smiled a little sadly.

'No. No husband. Nobody, really.'

'You must have friends.' Steve reasoned.

'I moved around too much as a kid to really make friends. And when you're a teenager in med-school, people aren't lining up to hang out with you when they can go and get drunk at Frat parties.' She shifted her bad on her shoulder. 'I do better on my own anyway.'

'That seems a little lonely.'

'It is.'

She suddenly made her way into an apartment building and walked up to the man behind the desk. Steve hurried after her. The Doctor wasn't what he expected. She was smart and obviously tough to have survived in the foster system, and despite what Steve knew were defensive walls, she was kind too. He could tell that much in the way she smiled at the receptionist.

Steve arrived at the desk just as Doctor Paolera was handed the key, which she handed to him. They climbed the stairs to the sixth floor, to apartment 6A. Steve put the key in the lock and opened the door. The inside was furnished. Nothing lavish, just a couch, coffee table and a rug. The kitchen had a few strange appliances that Steve would have to learn to use. Steve ventured a little further into the – _his_ – apartment. There were a few boxes and files on a desk to his left and there, hanging neatly on a hook, was his military uniform. The one with his badges and medals. It had been cleaned and ironed, looking as new as the day Steve had originally gotten it.

'Whoa.' Doctor Paolera whispered, staring at the uniform. Steve noticed, shockingly, there were tears in her eyes. 'Sorry, it's just…my family served in the World Wars too.'

'What unit?'

She shook her head. 'I don't know. All of that was lost after my parents died. I just remember my dad telling me about my grandfather once when I was really young before he died. He didn't go into details.'

Steve nodded. Doctor Paolera handed him a slip of paper. It had numbers on it, along with her name. 'It's my phone number. I live a few blocks over, near Central Park. If you need any help, or want company or anything. Call.'

Steve took the phone number and nodded gratefully. So far, everyone he'd met had wanted to run tests on him, spoke seriously and never smiled. Doctor Nadia Paolera had been a breath of fresh air after a very stifling week.

'Will do, Doctor.'

'I told you to call me Nadia.' She said, turning towards the door.

'Yes ma'am.' Steve grinned. Nadia shook her head.

'Goodbye Captain.'

* * *

It had been two weeks and she hadn't heard from him. Nadia had checked her phone a few times for any missed calls and according to Fury, Captain Rogers hadn't checked in with him or anybody.

Nadia hadn't expected him to be so handsome. Sure, there were the posters and photographs, but they were from the 40's – they weren't exactly reliable. But in this case, they weren't lying. His eyes were a lot bluer than she thought, and his hair was still in that coif to the side, the fashion from before he went into the ice. A little out of style, but he made it work. She knew he'd been tall too, and muscular, but he was built like…well…like a solider.

She knew what it was like to be one of a kind. Literally, there was nobody like him on the planet. Nobody had managed to perfect the super soldier serum in the last seventy years. Not since him. And well, she was a different story. She'd been born this way. Not made.

Nadia sighed, trying once again to concentrate on her meditation, but it just wasn't happening. Her mind just wouldn't settle. She let her feet touch the ground again, after hovering in the air above the rug in the living room for an hour. Quickly, she dragged some shoes on and grabbed her bag, heading out the door of the apartment and out onto the streets. She could have flown to Steve's apartment, but it was broad daylight.

Amongst flight, Nadia could control the elements around her as well as shifting into the bodies of animals. After a while, she'd learned how to apply her gifts to everyday life, as well as how to use them to defend herself. Nobody knew how she'd gotten these abilities. There was something in her DNA that nobody could identify. Nadia had spent years trying to track down some sort of cure, a way to be normal, even just to understand why she'd been born this way. But nobody could give her an answer. Eventually she'd had enough of the poking and prodding and just accepted that this was the way she was.

 _I'm just a freak of nature,_ she thought with a sigh.

SHIELD saw her as an asset. When they'd found out about her, they'd wanted to recruit her for field missions. Of course, Nadia wasn't one for violence and destruction. She wanted to help people, heal people, not hurt them. Instead, she went on the registry for superhuman's and did the odd consultation job for Fury. When she got the call to come in and examine Captain America, Nadia had thought someone was playing a practical joke on her. But no. The man was real. _Very_ real and _very_ alive. Very attractive too.

Nadia was at his door and knocking before she'd had a chance to get her thoughts together. He opened it, looking more than surprised to see her there.

'Doctor Paolera. What are you doing here?' He'd shaved since she'd seen him, and his hair was wet from the shower. He was also wearing the same outfit she'd last seen him in – khaki pants, white shirt and boots.

'Nobody has heard from you in two weeks.' Nadia explained, 'So I thought I'd come and check on you.'

'Making sure I'm alive?' he asked dryly.

She smiled. 'Something like that.'

He stepped aside, sweeping his arm out in invitation for her to come in. She walked into his living room, glancing around. It was still the same, except now it looked lived in. There was fruit in a bowl on the counter. A record player sitting on a shelf, and the boxes had been opened. There were files and papers all over the desk.

'How are you adjusting?' Nadia asked.

'Alright I guess. The food is better. I worked out how to use all the kitchen appliances. Fury told me that my back pay from the army has been put into an account for me.' He glanced around. 'I guess I've been trying to find out what happened to the people I knew.'

'And did you?' She asked, dropping her bag next to the couch and leaning against the armrest.

Steve nodded, looking sad. 'Most of them are dead. But…Peggy is still alive. In a nursing home, somewhere uptown.'

'I'm sorry.' Nadia knew it sounded lame, but it was the only thing she could think of to say. Steve shifted his feet. 'You look tired.'

Indeed, his eyes had purple shadows underneath them and his skin was paler. He still looked healthy, but exhausted.

'I slept for seventy years. I think I've had enough.'

Nadia nodded, standing up straight and crossing her arms. 'Nightmares?'

Steve started, 'How did you – '

'I've had some experience with this sort of thing. I'm a doctor, remember?' She reminded him, trying to keep her tone light. 'It's normal. You went through something traumatic. Your mind is trying to cope with it in the only way it can.'

'By making me relive it over and over?' Steve asked bitterly, picking up some files and shoving them into the boxes haphazardly.

'By trying to make sense of it.' She clarified. Nadia felt sympathy for him. He was all alone in this world. 'Did you ever think to ask someone for help?'

'Who would I ask?'

'Me?' She suggested.

'I don't really know you that well, ma'am.'

'Okay. True enough.' Nadia walked forward, holding her hand out. 'I'm Nadia. I'm twenty four years old and I've always wanted to go to Egypt. I'm allergic to pine nuts and I'm an avid Harry Potter fan.'

Steve looked at her hand for a moment before taking it. 'Steve Rogers.'

'Well, Steve, I think it's time to get you into the twenty-first century.' She said, looking him up and down. 'Starting with those clothes.'


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N – So hopefully that first chapter wasn't too cliché. The first couple of chapters will mostly be fluffy, but to build a house you have to lay groundwork. Also, if you haven't seen any of the movies mentioned in this chapter, please check them out. I grew up on these films and they're wonderful.**

 **If you're enjoying the story, please review.**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Two

'They seem a bit too…tight.' Steve said, looking down at the jeans that Nadia had insisted he try on. The sizing system had changed a fair amount since 1945, but he'd brought a genius with a doctorate along with him. It hadn't taken Nadia long to figure it out. Still, he was convinced that she'd gotten him the wrong size because there was no way people _actually_ wore pants this tight. He could hardly move.

'That's the fashion.' She said, smiling. 'But if you want them a bit looser I can go find something for you.'

'Yes please.' Steve was relieved at her offer.

'Do you like the shirts I picked out? I figured you'd want a combination of button up and pull-over shirts.' Nadia asked as she walked away and Steve slipped back into the changing room.

Steve had been surprised at how good Nadia was at adapting to his style. The shirts were mostly just plain colours with no prints, but were made of nice material and fit Steve nicely. He certainly was looking forward to ditching those khaki pants he'd been stuck with for a while now.

'They're nice. Thank you.' He called out to her. A pair of jeans swung over the top of the door and Steve wondered if she'd had to jump to accomplish it. He pulled them on and felt much better. They were straight legged and looser than the other pair. He pushed the dressing room door open again and raised his eyebrows at Nadia.

'You're right. Those suit you much better.' Nadia said, nodding. 'I think that covers clothes.'

'Thank God.' Steve muttered as he went to take off the jeans. He heard her laugh. Nadia had taken him to four other stores before this one. They'd stocked up on shoes, pants, shirts, and Nadia had, with a flushed face, left him alone in the men's underwear section. Steve felt heat rise in his cheeks a little when he thought about how embarrassing that moment had been.

He emerged from the dressing room and made his way over to the counter, Nadia content to browse the racks while he paid with the little strip of plastic he'd learned to use a few hours before. He was waiting in line when Nadia rushed up to him with a beaming smile, various bags swinging on her arms.

'This screams you.' She said, holding up a simple but stylish brown leather jacket. Steve smiled and took it from her. Finally, an item of clothing that he was familiar with. He paid and they left the store to venture out into the shopping mall, which was teeming with people even though it was the middle of the work day.

'So is there anything else you want to get today?' She asked.

'Uh…I don't think so…'

'I suppose SHIELD already gave you a cell phone?'

Steve took out the rectangular piece of technology from his pocket. 'So that's what this thing is called?'

Nadia giggled. 'Yes. You can make calls on it, get emails, check your social media, watch movies. There is more technology in that thing than there was when they sent the first astronauts to the moon.'

'People landed on the moon?' Steve asked, beyond astounded. Nadia nodded, pushing her glasses up her nose in a habit that Steve was quickly getting used to.

'Remind me to teach you how to use Google.' She said, as they made their way to the parking lot. 'But for now, maybe just write down everything you hear about that doesn't make sense.'

'Good idea.'

After loading the shopping bags in the trunk of the car, Nadia got into the passenger seat while Steve drove. They'd found that SHIELD had left a car for them to use around the block from Steve's apartment, a typical black sedan with a surprising amount of legroom. Nadia reclined easily in the seat, looking relaxed.

'So you've always wanted to go to Egypt?' Steve asked as they made it out onto the road and started to drive back to his apartment building. New York hadn't really changed since he'd last been there and he was proud to say that he was a quick learner, even if the traffic was worse than before.

'Ever since I was little. I've just always loved the mystery and culture. I want to see the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx and the Valley of the Kings. I want to stand in the same place a Pharaoh may have stood. I just want to soak up all that history. It's a fascinating country.'

'I've never been. I was mostly in Europe during the war.' Steve replied, 'But I can see the appeal.'

'Is there anywhere you've always wanted to go?'

Steve was silent for a moment, thinking. 'Rome.'

'Rome?' Nadia repeated, a little surprised.

'To see the cathedrals.' He added, a little more quietly, 'I like art.'

Steve saw Nadia smile at him from the corner of his eye.

'I'd like to go there too someday.'

Steve found Nadia's company soothing, which is something he hadn't felt in a long time. She was certainly interesting, a puzzle. He never knew what she would say next, and he'd be lying if he didn't find her kindness and sense of humour, charming. But Steve could tell she was as lonely as he was. He'd seen the look in her eyes when she got quiet, lost in thought. It was the same look many soldiers had back in the war. She'd seen something and it haunted her.

'Well, there are some great art programs in the city. Maybe you should enrol.' Nadia suggested. Steve didn't say anything as they parked around the corner from his apartment building. They were silent as they climbed the stairs, each lost in thought.

He'd thought about going back to what he'd done before the war. He'd been an art student and working as a delivery boy for a newspaper, but to him, that seemed like going backwards. Like it was something out of someone else's life now.

'Steve...' Nadia stopped him just outside of his door. 'You have time to decide what you want to do with your life. There isn't any one way to go about it.'

'I know. Thanks.' He replied quietly, letting them into his apartment, where they dropped the shopping bags on the floor of his bedroom. It was clean, neat and tidy, with a few framed photos hanging on the walls.

'Who are they?' Nadia asked, pointing to a group photo. Steve stood next to her, feeling sadness prick at his soul.

'The Howling Commandos.' He explained, 'My unit during the war.'

Nadia studied the faces. 'You all look happy here.'

'I'd just rescued them from a HYDRA base behind enemy lines. We were all just happy to be alive.'

'What were their names?' she asked.

Steve pointed to each face in turn. 'Timothy Dugan. We all called him "Dum Dum." That's Gabe Jones, Jim Morita, James Falsworth, and Jacques Dernier.'

'And him?' Nadia gestured to the last face aside from Steve's. His swallowed thickly.

'That's James Barnes. Bucky. He was my best friend.'

Nadia looked up at him, forehead furrowed and confused. 'Was?'

'He's dead.' Steve said bluntly. 'He fell from a train and off a cliff. I couldn't save him. It was like I was there just to watch.'

Nadia touched his arm. 'That's not your fault.'

'You weren't there.'

'I didn't need to be. You seem like the kind of man who did everything in his power to save his friend. But sometimes giving everything we've got just isn't enough.'

Steve supposed she knew a little of what she was talking about. She was a doctor, who probably lost patients even though she did everything she could to help them. Still, he couldn't help but think she didn't completely understand. Bucky was like his brother and he'd let him fall to his death.

'He probably would have adjusted to modern life a lot better than I ever could.' Steve shoved his hands in his pockets so she wouldn't see them shaking.

'Well, why don't we fix that?' Nadia suggested, turning towards the living room and turning on the television. Steve followed. She clicked a button that said Netflix, and flopped down on the couch, barely making a sound. Steve had noticed she didn't walk, she almost floated. Her feet never made noise on the floor. She was so graceful it was like she had learned to fly.

'So, I was thinking we could start with some of the classics. _Star Wars_ , _Indiana Jones_ , _The Sound of Music_. I think you'll like that one. It's based, loosely, on a true story and set during the thirties and forties. There's also _Calamity Jane_ , _Rock-a-Bye-Baby_ and _Seven Brides for Seven Brothers_. Most of these are musicals, but were filmed about ten years after you went into the ice.'

'If these movies are so old, how do you know about them?' Steve asked, walking into the kitchen and opening the fridge. _He needed to go grocery shopping_ , he thought as he pulled out the last two bottles of water.

'I just like them. They don't make movies like that anymore. It's all special effects and violence and sex now. Which is all great and exciting but there's something…classic about these.' Nadia explained, taking one of the bottles. 'So what are you in the mood for? Something funny? Action-packed? Or a romance?'

Steve smiled, sitting back on the comfortable couch and opening his water. 'I trust your judgement.'

Nadia smiled and picked _The Sound of Music_. Throughout the movie, Steve would point out historical inaccuracies in the film, which only amused Nadia instead of annoying her. Nadia mouthed the words to the songs, thinking Steve wasn't watching. They continued like that for the next few hours, getting through another three movies and about to start on their fourth when Nadia's phone rang.

'Excuse me,' She said to Steve before answering and putting the phone to her ear. 'Doctor Paolera…Oh my god…How many wounded…? Yes…I'll be right in.' She hung up and quickly grabbed her bag, heading for the door. 'There's been a car crash. They're expecting a lot of injured. The hospital has called me in. I have to go.'

Steve stood up too. 'Of course. It's your job.'

Nadia hesitated. 'I'm sorry for leaving.'

'You're not my babysitter, Nadia. Besides, they need you. Go.' He smiled, letting her know it was okay. She nodded and crossed to the door. Steve beat her there and opened it for her, ever the gentleman.

'Thanks Steve. I'll call you later.' The smile she gave Steve then made his breath get stuck in his throat. It wasn't the tentative, shy smiles she's been giving him all day, but one that made him think, _Beautiful_. Before he could reply, she was gone.

* * *

Steve didn't hear from Nadia for three days. He figured she was busy with her work, but that didn't stop him from wanting to speak to her. He'd formed an attachment to the pretty doctor and liked spending time with her. She asked him about things he liked and what he wanted to eat and if he was sleeping alright. She wasn't interested in asking him to recount battles he'd won or what is was like to be a hero.

He hit the punching bag again, hard. He'd found working out in the rundown gym helped him vent his frustrations. He couldn't sleep without waking up in a cold sweat, thinking he was in a warzone. _He hit the bag._ He couldn't bring himself to call Peggy, even though he was dying to see her. _He hit the bag._ He couldn't stop thinking about how pretty Nadia had been when she'd smiled at him, or how nice her name sounded aloud and not just in his head. _He hit the bag._ He couldn't decide what to do with his life now, in this new and unfamiliar time. _He hit the bag._ He missed Bucky and all his friends, even Howard. _He hit the bag._ He felt so lost.

The only thing Steve seemed able to do was _Hit. The. Bag_. With a huge punch, the bag flew off the chain and landed across then room, splitting up the side and spewing sand onto the floor. Steve was breathing heavily, staring at the floor where the punching bag had landed.

'Whoa.'

Steve turned around. Nadia was standing in the doorway, wearing leggings and a black hoodie. Her hair was in a ponytail and she looked like she'd been out running.

'Hey,' Steve breathed.

'What did that poor bag ever do to you?' She gestured to the sand on the floor, walking forwards. Steve grabbed another from the floor beside him and as easily as picking up a piece of paper, hung it on the hook above his head.

'Just frustrated is all.' He explained. Nadia nodded, stopping a few feet from him, just watching.

'I'm sorry I didn't call. It was crazy at the hospital. I pulled a double shift and then went home to murder my pillow. I woke up late this morning and thought I'd come see you. I've been looking for you all day.'

 _All day?_ 'What time is it?'

'Around six.'

Steve stopped hitting the bag and rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand. Nadia watched his every move with those intense grey eyes. 'Sorry.'

'No, don't be. I just…I just wanted to make sure you're okay.' She replied, shifting her feet uncomfortably, looking shy suddenly. Steve felt his cheeks grow warm. 'But clearly you're not if you're killing punching bags. Do you want to talk about what's bothering you?'

Steve shook his head. 'It's nothing.'

Nadia raised an eyebrow. 'Yeah. I _totally_ believe you.'

He smiled, 'I didn't know you could be sarcastic.'

'It comes and goes.' Nadia said, shrugging out of her hoodie and tossing it on the bench next to Steve's gym bag and grabbing his spare pair of hand wraps. 'Well, maybe you should fight something that can actually defend itself. Come on.'

Steve blinked. 'What?'

'Come on.' She repeated, climbing into the boxing ring and wrapping her hands quickly and expertly. 'You want to vent your feelings, I'm your friend. Come on. Let's do this.'

'I don't hit girls.'

'What makes you think you'll be able to hit me?' She retorted, kicking off her shoes. Still, Steve hesitated. 'Steve, if I didn't think I could hold my own against the great Captain America, I wouldn't have offered. Now come on. I haven't got all night.'

Steve sighed and, uncomfortable, got into the ring. He noticed how tiny her feet were, clad in her polka dot socks. She smiled at him and then took off her glasses, laying them on the very edge of the mat. Nadia looked…wow. When she wore glasses, she looked so intelligent and pretty, but without them he could see her eyes better and they were even nicer than Steve originally thought.

She raised her fists and stood ready. He copied her and waited for her to make the first move, but she just waited. With great reluctance, he swung at her half-heartedly. She merely sidestepped and moved around him. He followed her. She was _fast_.

'Don't pull your punches.' She said, landing two consecutive punches to his stomach and then the side of his ribs. Steve grunted a little at how strong she was.

They traded punches and jabs, both dancing around each other. Steve once again noticed how light on her feet she was. She was good. _Really_ good. She'd had some kind of training, and expert training at that. She was able to do exactly what she said, which was keep up with him. He hadn't expected her to know how to fight, since she was so averse to violence, but he was definitely impressed right now.

Suddenly, she struck out with her leg and tried to roundhouse kick him. Quick as lightning, he caught her ankle and held it tightly so she was standing on one leg. Nadia wobbled a little and Steve kicked out his other leg to sweep her supporting leg out from under her. He hadn't realised she'd fisted her hand in his shirt and so went tumbling down with her. They both fell awkwardly and Nadia quickly rolled to her side and locked his arm, leaned on his chest and gripped the back of his shirt near his neck. She put her body weight against his ribs so the air rushed out of his lungs. Steve wheezed a little before sitting up and rolling her onto her stomach, left hand pinned behind her back and legs facing away from him.

'Pinned.' Steve grinned. He yelped a little when Nadia snaked her hand around to his left side and pulled him down swiftly, so he lost his balance and lay on his back. She clambered on top of him, pinned his hands next to his head and locked her feet around his thighs.

'Who's pinned now?' She panted. Steve stared up at her with wide eyes, chest rising and falling with each breath. Nadia, realising just how close they were, scrambled to get off him quickly, fixing her ponytail and straightening her shirt.

'Where did you learn to fight like that?'

'While I was in med school, during the summers instead of going to my foster family, I would apply for internships overseas and go on volunteer trips. I picked up some martial arts. And after SHEILD recruited me as a consultant, I asked to keep up with the combat training.'

'Why?' Steve got to his feet, staring at her.

'It makes me feel safe.' Nadia replied quietly. 'Men aren't always as honourable as you are.'

Steve's hand twitched, wanting to reach out and take her hand. To reassure her that he'd help keep her safe. But she was his friend, not Peggy. He still carried a torch for her but he was certainly developing strong feelings of attachment for the pretty, strong, intelligent doctor in front of him.

'Anyway,' Nadia tossed her head, settling into a fighting stance once again. She smiled grimly. 'Want to go again?'


	3. Chapter 3

**A.N – So we might jump a little in time throughout this fic. Just a heads up. Also this chapter is short, so apologies in advance. Please leave a review, as they let me know what you think and provide necessary motivation.**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Three

After knowing each other for two months, Steve and Nadia had settled into a routine. Every Monday morning before Nadia had to report for her shift at the hospital, they would meet for breakfast at the diner down the street from Nadia's apartment. Steve would order a large stack of pancakes and Nadia would have coffee with a blueberry muffin. She'd tell him to stop drowning his pancakes in syrup and he'd just laugh. Wednesday mornings they would jog through Central Park, but it would often turn into a race in which Steve left Nadia in the dust and she would eventually catch up, her laughter coming out in exhausted pants. On Thursday nights, they would spar together in the gym and perhaps Steve's favourite, they would spend Friday nights at Nadia's apartment. She would cook dinner, they'd eat while watching the news and then Steve would pick a movie to watch. It was a good way to get to know each other and the more time they spent with each other, the more comfortable they grew.

Nadia hadn't felt this close to someone in…years. She finally had a friend who might understand what it was like to be different. She'd considered telling Steve about her powers multiple times, but had always chickened out at the last moment. She didn't want Steve to judge her, to look at her and know she could turn into an elephant if she wanted. Or that she could literally choke the life out of someone without ever touching them. She cared what he thought about her, because, God help her, she'd developed feelings for him.

Nadia had a crush on Captain America. It was so cliché it was laughable. But it was impossible _not_ to like him. He was smart, funny, a gentleman and very sweet. He also had a sharp tongue and could make quick quips as easily as the best of them. It didn't hurt that he was a complete dreamboat to look at. She sometimes caught herself watching him as he walked away, eyes lingering perhaps a little too long on his backside, or on his arms as he lifted shopping bags for her. What she liked most though, was the way he laughed. It was contagious and she couldn't help but find it adorable.

But Nadia knew there was no possible way for there to be anything between them. He was finally used to the modern world. There were still a few things that surprised him, like some of the latest music or fashions. Most Doctor Who references went over his head, but he was adjusting. Maybe in time he would be open to a relationship, but not now and certainly not with her. Not since he'd called Peggy and heard her voice for the first time in seventy years. He's been holding Nadia's hand when he made the call, trying desperately not to cry. They'd talked for a long while, and with a promise to visit soon, he'd hung up the phone and for the first time, had hugged Nadia.

She didn't usually let herself get attached to people. She'd always distanced herself from people so that her secret would remain safe, and so would she. The children had been afraid of her growing up, and in high school, the other teenagers had hated her because she'd been able to graduate early and go to med school on a full scholarship. In med school, she'd been younger than all her classmates and so hadn't made any friends there. Steve was her first friend and she wasn't eager to screw that up by telling him that she liked him.

She sighed and continued to slice the cucumber for the small salad she wanted to go with the lasagne she'd prepared. She tried to make something different every Friday so that Steve could try foods he'd never had before. He always ate everything he was given anyway. Mostly because his metabolism ran four times faster than the average man, but also because he'd grown up during the Depression. He hated wasting food. Another thing that Nadia admired about him; his morals.

He'd started talking more about Bucky, his friends, even what he did in the war. She'd listened and told him he'd been lucky to have friends like that. They talked about current events and played board games. He absolutely killed her in Monopoly, but she'd beaten him in poker.

Nadia jumped when her phone started ringing. She wiped her hands on a towel nearby and picked her phone up.

'Hello?'

'Doctor Paolera, it's Agent Coulson.'

'Phil. Hi. How's it going?'

'This isn't a social call, Doc.' Nadia frowned. 'There's been an accident.'

'What kind of accident?' she asked.

'A whole building collapsed. We're still digging people out. It was a SHIELD facility. We need everybody on deck.'

Nadia nodded and jammed the phone between her shoulder and ear. She pulled the lasagne out of the oven and set it on the stove. 'Okay. Send me co-ordinates. I can be there in an hour.'

'Thanks Doc.' He sounded relieved.

'Phil…why do I get the feeling you're not telling me something?'

Coulson hesitated, 'I'll fill you in when you get here, Doc. I'll see you soon.' He hung up and within fifteen seconds, Nadia had co-ordinates to the base all the agents had been sent to. She scrolled her contacts list and came to Steve's name. She clicked call as she turned the oven off, placed the salad in the fridge and then covered the lasagne in foil.

'Nadia!' Steve answered, sounding excited, 'I'm about to leave to come to your place. I have some news.'

'Steve I'm so sorry but I have to cancel. There's been a medical emergency at a SHIELD base and I've been called in.'

'Oh.' He said and Nadia winced at how disappointed he sounded. 'Yeah, of course. Saving people is your job and you're the best at your job. Obviously they'd want you. I understand.'

Nadia turned the lights off in her apartment and, double checking she had everything, she locked the door. 'Steve I really am sorry. I feel terrible.'

'Don't. It's okay. Really.'

'I've made dinner already. You can still come over and help yourself. You know where everything is.' She invited, jogging down the stairs of the three-storey walk up apartment building.

'Uh…yeah. I'll think about it. Will you call me later? Let me know what's happening?'

'I will. Bye Steve.'

'Bye Nadia.'

She hung up and exited the apartment building. She shoved the phone into her back pocket and turned down a dark alley. She could sense there was nobody down here and looking back quickly, she made sure the coast was clear before she began to shift.

When she'd first discovered her shape-shifting abilities, it had been a complete accident and it had hurt like hell. Every bone in her body broke and shifted, her skin stretched and contracted. But over time, with practise, it had become as easy as breathing. As she'd grown older, her powers grew too. What had surprised her though, was when she shifted back to human, her clothes were always intact.

Nadia rolled her shoulders and began to walk. She extended her arms and they began to change, sprouting feathers and growing longer, while her legs shrunk upwards and formed into thick black talons. Within two seconds she'd changed into a huge hawk, and she took to the skies, flapping her wings as the air currents carried her where she needed to go.

She would never get over the feeling of flying. She could have flown in her human form by manipulating the air currents to support her weight, but it was less conspicuous when there was a bird flying around New York city instead of a woman in her mid-twenties.

It took a her a little longer than expected to reach the base and she could see from high above that there were many people running around. She spotted Coulson on the ground and flew over to him, gliding close to where he stood and shifting mid-air so her feet brushed the ground on landing. She jogged closer and followed him inside the base's medical facilities.

'What have we got?'

'At least a hundred injured. Fifty dead. We have doctor's already working on patients but the more hands the merrier.' Coulson's face remained calm but his voice betrayed his worry.

'Was it a bomb?' She asked, grabbing some scrubs from a nearby rack.

'Something like that.' Coulson answered cryptically.

'Phil.' She sighed. 'If you're going to call me in on such late notice and tell me loads of people are dead and injured I need to know how. There could be radiation or specific pieces of contaminated shrapnel we need to remove.'

Coulson looked around, grabbed her elbow and pulled her into the empty room to their left. 'You know the work we've been doing on the Tesseract? Well, someone used it to open a portal, hijacked Barton and Selvig and set off an explosion that buried half the base underground.'

Nadia swallowed thickly. 'What do you mean by hijacked? Barton is one of the loyalest – '

'Mind control.'

'Mind control?' Nadia repeated uncertainly, 'Seriously?'

'Does it look like I'm kidding?'

'Shit.' Nadia put her hand on her hips and gestured for Coulson to turn around so she could change. He did so. 'Who came through the portal?'

'He's called Loki. He's Thor's brother.'

Nadia frowned. 'Thor…as in the guy with the hammer from last year?'

'That'd be him, yeah.'

'What does he want?'

'Says he wants to take over the world.' Coulson shrugged like he heard people say that sort of thing every day. 'Free the people and all that.'

Nadia shook her head. 'Glad to know there are crazier things out there than me.' she said and handing him her jeans and shirt to hold after she'd changed into her scrubs. 'Now let's go see what kind of damage we're dealing with.'

* * *

Eleven hours. That's how long Nadia had spent operating, stitching and healing people. She may have used some of her powers to help the process along but she'd lost four patients in one night. Most had just had cuts and scrapes, but others had burns and broken bones. Some had even needed amputations and she'd been there, assisting in any way she could. Holding hands and wiping away tears. But it hadn't been enough.

She was beyond tired. She was hungry and all she wanted to do was sleep. Coulson appeared in front of her holding a cup of coffee, which he handed to her. He sat beside her and sighed.

'How's it looking?'

'We attended to the more critical patients first but not all of them we could save. In total, sixteen. Four of them were mine. We did what we could.' She took a sip of the coffee.

'I know.' Coulson reassured her, then leaned forward. 'Fury wants you to be transferred to the helicarrier. He's thinking about enacting the Avengers Initiative.'

'No.' Nadia stood up and began to walk away. 'I'm not an Avenger. I'm a Doctor.'

'He wants you as a consultant.' Coulson said, coming after her.

'Bullshit.' She snapped, turning to face him. She had to look up at him. 'Fury wants me on the front lines because he knows I'm an enhanced. He wants to use me to fight a war that he can't. He doesn't want soldiers or spies or consultants, Coulson. He wants freaks who he can blame if things go wrong.'

'That's not true, Nadia.' Coulson said softly. 'You know that.'

'Do I?' She retorted. 'I don't do violence, Coulson. I'll protect myself and others if I absolutely have to but…I'm a doctor. I swore an oath.'

'To help people. You have these powers most people can't even dream of. Don't you have a duty to use them to protect people if you can?'

'You're twisting my words.' She groaned.

'Look just come with me and think about it. If you don't want to fight, if it even comes to that, then help Doctor Banner and Mr Stark locate the cube. It'll move a lot faster with three geniuses in the room instead of two.'

She narrowed her eyes at her friend. 'You're flattering me to get what you want, aren't you?'

Coulson grinned. 'Is it working?'


	4. Chapter 4

**A.N – Sorry about the late update. It's been a crazy week. I'll aim to update at least once a week, but no promises so please don't kill me. We're getting stuck into** _ **The Avengers**_ **now. The fun is really about to begin. Please leave a review if you feel so inclined.**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Four

 _Well, the planes certainly had improved since the war, that was for sure_.

Steve boarded the quinjet, looking around at all the sleek metal, technology and the ease with which everything was done. Even the flight was smooth and not at all like the times he'd been in a plane before. Under his arm was a tablet that Agent Coulson had given him with files on all the people who would be on the helicarrier to help find the cube and Agent Barton. Steve wasn't entirely sure why it was necessary for him to know so much about people he would be working with for such a short amount of time, but like a good soldier, Steve followed orders.

After spending twenty minutes trying to get the blasted thing to work, the first person he'd clicked on was Natasha Romanoff. Beautiful, intelligent and apparently, deadly. She'd made a name for herself in Russia, but had come to work for SHIELD and had been walking the right path for a while now. He figured that he would need to keep an eye on her. Soldiers followed orders, but they were loyal to their cause. Spies were wild cards, capable of anything and he was wary of them. He'd dealt with spies before, and none of those experiences had been pleasant.

Clint Barton was much the same story, but he was the one who had convinced the beautiful redhead to come over and join the good guys instead of killing her like he had been ordered to. Steve felt respect for the man who had disobeyed orders to do the right thing. Coulson had informed Steve that this Loki person had brainwashed Agent Barton and Steve felt a pang of sympathy for the man.

Steve jumped at the name Stark and was disappointed to see it was not his friend Howard, but instead his son. It was easy to mistake – the resemblance was uncanny. However, it had been foolish of him to hope, as Steve knew that his friend was long dead. He frowned at the arrogant and cocky attitude the younger Stark seemed to have in all the footage he was shown, once again casting some resemblance to his father. But Howard had been kind too, and loyal to a fault. Steve wasn't sensing that sort of emotion in the man in the Iron Man suit and just knew that the two of them would clash before long.

He started when he saw the name Doctor Nadia Paolera, though. His heart started to beat rapidly in his chest as he clicked on her file with a shaking finger. He watched as Nadia stood before the camera, looking nervous, and after someone behind the camera told her to go for it, she began to shrink right before Steve's eyes, into the form of a cat. And just as quickly, changed back. He watched in shock as she held a ball of fire in her hand, how she created a miniature tornado on the floor, how she managed to turn liquid water into a frozen block of ice, and even how she punched right through a slab of rock as thick as his chest.

Steve sat back, mind whirring. Next to her personal information in the file was a list; _Shape-shifting, elemental control, flight._ Her powers. Nadia, his Nadia, had powers and she hadn't told him. He felt a little betrayed. He had always been completely honest with her, but now he thought about it, it all made sense. The way she walked, the way animals would flock to her on their jogs in Central Park…He'd known that she'd been holding something back, but he'd assumed it had to do with the fact she was a foster kid. This was…not what he was expecting.

'Why didn't she tell me?' he muttered to himself, looking down at her picture in the electrical file. Perhaps Steve hadn't made her feel like she could tell him, had made her feel like she couldn't be honest with him, and that made him feel even worse.

Clicking on the next file, he began watching video footage of something that totally frightened him, and Captain Steven Rogers did not frighten easily. His eyes widened and he felt a little sick.

' _Sir, we're about forty minutes from base_.' The pilot reported to Agent Coulson, who got up to stand near Steve.

'So, this Doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum they used on me?' Steve asked, his mind whirring from all the new information. Coulson reached a hand up to grip a metal bar above his head to steady himself.

'A lot of people were. You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought Gamma radiation could hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula.' Coulson explained.

There was a roar from the footage. 'Didn't really go his way, did it?' Steve replied grimly.

'Not so much. But when he's not that thing, though, he's like a Stephen Hawking.' Steve looked up at the agent, confused. Coulson elaborated, 'He's like a…smart person.'

Steve nodded and closed the files on the tablet, placing them on the seat beside him.

'I gotta say, it's an honour to meet you, officially.' Steve's cheek twitched in a half smile. 'I mean, I have met you. I watched you while you were sleeping.'

Steve felt very uncomfortable suddenly and got to his feet, going over to peer through the window. Coulson was still rambling, 'I-I mean I was present when you were unconscious. From the ice. You know it's just a huge honour to have you on board. It is.'

'Well, I hope I'm the man for the job.' Steve sighed thinking about that green monster on the screen and wondering what he'd gotten himself into.

'Oh, you are. Absolutely. We, uh, made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input.'

'The uniform?' Steve repeated, turning to look Coulson in the eye. 'Aren't the stars and stripes a little…old fashioned?'

Coulson tipped his head from side to side, weighing his reply. 'With everything that's happening, everything that's about to come to light, people might just need a little old fashioned.'

Steve swallowed and turned back to look out the window at the sea that was shooting past them. He didn't know what he would say to Nadia when he saw her. He didn't know if he was more angry or hurt by the fact that she hadn't told him. Perhaps a little of both.

* * *

Nadia was pacing. She knew Coulson had probably given Steve her file by now. He probably knew all about her abilities. She wondered what he thought of her now. Did he think she was a freak? Would he be repulsed by her? She knew it was more than pathetic to care about what he thought of her, but she did. She cared. Not just what he thought of her but she cared about him. He was her first real friend and now she may have gone and screwed it up by being a coward and not telling the truth.

Her heels were clicking on the floor as she paced like a caged tiger. She'd gone professional today, with a purple blouse tucked into a high-waisted pencil skirt and heels. It wasn't every day you met Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, two of the most advanced minds in the world. And perhaps, she hoped, if she looked nice, Steve might forget the fact that she was a freak and could pretend that she was human, even if she wasn't.

The door opened and she whirled around. Natasha Romanoff was leading Steve and Doctor Banner out onto the command centre of the helicarrier. Steve caught her eye and she opened her mouth to say something, but he quickly averted his gaze, glancing around. Her heart sunk into her stomach.

'Uh…Doctor Paolera?' She turned and saw Doctor Banner in front of her. 'I'm Doctor Banner. It's nice to finally meet you. I've heard great things.'

'Oh the pleasure is all mine, Doctor Banner.' She shook his hand with a nervous smile. This was one of the smartest men on the planet, standing right in front of her and looking as cagey as she felt. He had dark hair that was slightly grey at the sides, a handsome but worry-worn face and he hunched his shoulders, like he didn't want to be seen. 'Please call me Nadia.'

'Bruce.' He returned and let go of her hand. She noticed that he clasped them together, wringing them nervously. She knew he didn't want to be here.

'Gentleman.' Fury called and then looked at both Nadia and Natasha. 'Ladies.'

Steve walked right up to Fury and dug into his pocket, pulled out a ten-dollar bill, then handed it to the Director. With a hint of a smile, Fury took it and Steve wandered out, looking around in awe. Nadia noticed he was wearing the jacket she'd picked out for him.

'Doctor, thank you for coming.' Fury said, reaching to shake Bruce's hand. Bruce hesitated for a moment before taking it, letting go quickly.

'Thanks for asking nicely.' He replied, 'So, um, how long am I staying?'

'Once we get our hand on the Tesseract, you're in the wind.' Fury replied. Bruce wandered over to peer at the computers below him. Nadia crossed her arms, biting her lip.

'Well, where are you with that?' Bruce asked and in reply, Fury pointed to Coulson, who had appeared on the deck below.

'We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cell phones, laptops, if it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us.'

'That's still not gonna find them in time.' Natasha said, crouching next to a desk and looking solemn. Nadia felt sympathy for the agent; her best friend had been brainwashed by a sadistic and arrogant god. All things considered, Nadia thought that Agent Romanoff was handling things pretty well.

'You have to narrow your field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?' Banner asked, taking off his jacket.

'How many are there?' Fury asked, crossing his arms.

'Call every lab you know. Tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places.' Bruce said, getting down to business and rolling up his sleeves. 'Do you have somewhere for me to work?'

Fury turned his head. 'Agent Romanoff?' he called and she turned towards the Director, 'Could you show Doctor Banner to his laboratory please?'

'You're gonna love it doc. We got all the toys.' She said. Nadia made to go after them but Steve called her name and she stopped. Fury, ever the man to sense an awkward situation, disappeared.

'Hey.' He said by greeting. She didn't meet his eye, looking straight ahead, at his chest.

'Hi.'

'Are you okay?'

She nodded, 'Yeah, I'm fine.'

'Coulson told me you lost some patients.'

Nadia tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. She tried to keep it from shaking. This man made her so nervous. 'Yeah, it never gets easier.'

Steve nodded and shifted his feet. 'Why didn't you tell me about your powers, Nadia?'

It was the question she'd been dreading. His voice was a mixture of confusion, sadness and anger. She could only answer honestly, 'I didn't want you to think I was a freak. You're my only friend and I didn't want you to think I was weird, okay?' Her voice was trembling. If she could hear it, then so could he.

'I don't think you're a freak.' Nadia looked up at him and noticed how close he was standing to her. 'Far from it. You're an intelligent, successful, kind, b-beautiful dame with extraordinary abilities.' Steve stuttered a little and she pretended not to notice, 'As far as I can tell, that makes you amazing. Not a freak.'

Nadia blushed to the roots of her hair. 'Thanks Steve.'

'I just want you to be honest with me. Adjusting to all this…' he gestured around at all the advanced technology. 'It's hard enough without my best friend keeping things from me.'

 _His best friend?_ Nadia smiled. 'Never again. I promise.'

Steve grinned. 'Good.'

'I should get to the lab, see if Doctor Banner needs any help.'

'Can I walk you there?' Nadia would never get tired of his old-fashioned manners.

'That's okay. Thanks Steve.' She turned to go, and then remembered something. 'You said you had some news the other day. What was it?'

Steve chuckled. 'Oh that. Well, I bought a motorcycle.'

Nadia laughed. 'That doesn't surprise me at all. I thought you were the type of guy for motorbikes.'

'Feels like flying.' Steve shrugged.

'Maybe I'll have to take you flying sometime. So, you can actually see what it's like.' She froze for a second, wondering if she'd overstepped this time.

Steve smiled. 'I think that'd be great, ma'am.'

Nadia left, shaking her head and giggling with relief. She felt at ease for the first time in three days. He didn't think she was a freak. He thought she was amazing. Her cheeks reddened a little at the thought of it. She had it bad and she knew it.

'Doctor Banner,' she greeted entering the lab. 'I don't know a lot about biochemistry but I know my way around the lab. Would you like an assistant?'

Bruce smiled at her gently. 'I think that'd be great.'

He set her to work immediately, and they soon settled into a comfortable, working silence. She caught him glancing at her a few times but would look away sharply when she caught him looking. After around three hours, she'd had enough.

'If you want to ask something, Doctor Banner, just ask.' Nadia said it gently, so that he would know she wasn't mad.

Bruce jumped at the sudden noise. 'Sorry… just…you and the Captain look…very close. Are you two…?'

'Friends? Yes. We are.' She replied with a smile. 'I've been helping him adjust to modern life and we just became friends along the way. It's nice, since I've never had one.'

'A friend?' Bruce gasped. Nadia hummed her reply. 'I'm sorry.'

'Don't be. With my abilities, the kids on the playground didn't want to hang around the freak who could make the squirrels bring her flowers.'

'That sounds…pretty awesome to me.' Bruce chuckled. Nadia grinned and walked over to her work station.

'I have a special connection with animals. Not only can I shape shift into them, but I can…communicate with them. Not words but feelings. Instincts.'

'Sounds nice.'

Nadia noticed the wistful tone in his voice. 'All power can be a burden. Grass always look greener from the other side.' She froze. 'Oh…crap I'm sorry I didn't think – '

Bruce held a hand up, 'It's fine. Don't worry about it.'

She knew what he could turn into, and she couldn't help but feel sympathy for the lonely, sad, but brilliant, Doctor in front of her. Perhaps because he's just like her. He didn't ask for his powers; he was clever like her and he'd been alone most of his life.

Deciding to change the subject, Bruce asked, 'So…what's he like?'

'Steve?' Bruce nodded and Nadia took a deep breath and let out a sigh. 'Well, he's charming, smart, brave, he's kind, taller than I thought he'd be, and for someone born in 1918, he's very accepting of modern times. He's really good at drawing and he…cares. About others. It's…it's nice. Being around him you get this feeling…like you matter.'

Bruce was watching her closely and she blushed again. Nadia cleared her throat. 'So, um, yeah.'

'And there's nothing going on between you two?' he asked again and Nadia rolled her eyes.

'Just concentrate on the work, Doctor Banner.' She chuckled.

An agent burst into the lab. 'Excuse me Doctors, but they've gotten a hit on Loki. The Captain is going to get him now. Director Fury thought you ought to know.'

Nadia glanced at Bruce as the agent retreated. 'Well, you might be going home sooner than you thought, Doctor.'


	5. Chapter 5

**A.N – I'd really like some feedback guys. I'd love to know your thoughts, so please take a moment to send a review.**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Five

Nadia and Bruce were waiting on deck for the others to return. After four hours, it'd taken a while to capture Loki, and now apparently, they were bringing along some uninvited guests. Steve came in and nodded to Doctor Banner before smiling at Nadia, sitting next to her at the large table. She quickly ran her eyes over him, making sure there weren't any injuries. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw he was in the same condition that he'd left in.

Natasha came in shortly after and seated herself opposite Nadia, who sent the agent a reassuring look. The agent held her elbows in her palms as she stared at the tabletop, trying her hardest not to look worried.

A huge blonde man walked in and Nadia knew this had to be Thor. His arms were easily as thick as her head, and his chest was broad and muscled. He was wearing alien armour and metal gauntlets on his forearms. His hair was long, brushing his shoulders, and a little darker than Steve's. But where Steve's blue eyes reminded Nadia of the sky, Thor's reminded her of lightning.

A screen appeared on the table and Nadia saw Loki for the first time. Steve leaned closer to peer at the screen that sat between them. The other god looked nothing like Thor. His hair was dark, his skin pale to the point it was almost sickly, and where Thor was wearing red, Loki wore green. They couldn't look any more dissimilar if they tried. He was inside a huge glass container and Fury appeared at the controls.

'In case it's unclear, you try to escape, you so much as scratch that glass…' Fury hit a button and the floor around the cage vanished. Loki peered downwards. 'Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?' He closed the shields and the wind stopped. Fury gestured to Loki, 'Ant,' he turned to the controls, 'Boot.'

Loki chuckled stepping back. 'It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me.'

'Built for something a lot stronger than you.' Fury said, glaring at the god in the cage.

'Oh I've heard.' Loki then turned and looked straight at the camera and Nadia leaned back a little, frightened of the black fire that seemed to dance in his eyes. 'The mindless beast, makes play he's still a man.'

Nadia looked up at Bruce, who shifted uncomfortably and swallowed.

'How desperate are you? You call on such lost creatures to defend you.' Loki continued, sounding smug.

'" _How desperate am I?"_ ' Fury repeated, growling, 'You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace and you kill 'cause it's fun. You have made me _very_ desperate. You might not be glad that you did.'

'Oooh.' Loki taunted and Nadia sucked in a breath. This guy was crazy. 'It _burns_ you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, _unlimited_ power, and for what?' Loki once again looked at the camera directly. 'A warm light for all man-kind to share? And then to be reminded what real power is.'

Fury smirked and turned to leave. 'Well, let me know if "real power" wants a magazine or something.'

The screen closed and Nadia sighed, sitting back and chewing on her thumbnail.

'He really grows on you, doesn't he?' Bruce said, possibly in an attempt to lighten the mood.

'Loki is going to drag this out. So…Thor? What's his play?'

'He has an army, called the Chitauri. They are not of Asgard or of any world known.' The god turned around to face the group. 'He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract.'

'An army. From outer space.' Steve stated, sounding doubtful.

'So he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for.' Bruce said. Thor frowned.

'Selvig?'

'He's an astrophysicist.' Nadia clarified.

'He's a friend.' Thor said, looking upset.

'Loki has him under some kind of spell.' Natasha said before adding, bitterly, 'Along with one of ours.'

'I want to know why Loki let us take him.' Steve looked around at them all, 'He's not leading an army from here.'

Bruce turned his glasses over in his hands. 'I don't think we should be focussing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You could smell crazy on him.'

'Have care how you speak.' Thor said, taking a step forward. Behind him, Agent Maria Hill appeared, crossing her arms and observing the conversation. 'Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he's my brother.'

'He killed eighty people in two days.' Natasha said dryly. Thor shifted his feet uncomfortably.

'He's adopted.' Nadia knew it wouldn't be appropriate to laugh at the response, so she turned her laugh into a cough.

'I think it's about the mechanics. Iridium, what do they need the Iridium for?' Bruce asked.

'It's a stabilizing agent.' A man's voice answered and Tony Stark walked into the room. He was shorter than Nadia had thought, about Bruce's height, his hair and beard were styled fashionably and his suit was neat but casual. He whispered something to Coulson before addressing the group as a whole.

'It means that the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD.' He walked all the way up to Thor and patted him on the bicep. 'No hard feeling Point Break, you got a mean swing.'

Nadia raised an eyebrow at Steve who just shook his head.

'Also, means that the portal can stay open as long and as wide as Loki wants.' Tony paused, then exclaimed, pointing, 'That man is playing Gallaga! Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did.' He sighed and covered one eye. 'How does Fury even see these?' he said, gesturing to the monitors.

'He turns.' Agent Hill replied.

'Sounds exhausting.' He quipped. 'The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only main component he needs is a power source of high energy density. Something to – ' Tony clicked his fingers, 'Kick-start the cube.'

'When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?' Agent Hill asked sarcastically.

'Last night.' Tony replied, 'The packet. Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?'

'Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?' Steve asked, trying to get back on track. Nadia felt as lost as he did when it came to the science of all this. People she understood. Machines…not so much.

'He'd have to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier.' Bruce said, and Nadia guessed that he was merely thinking aloud.

'Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect.' Tony said, walking around the table towards Doctor Banner.

'Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet.'

'Finally, someone who speaks English.' Tony gestured to Bruce, looking around the room before shaking the Doctor's hand.

'Is that what just happened?' Steve muttered and Nadia giggled just loud enough for Steve to her. He flashed her a grin but still looked confused.

'It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.' Tony said. Bruce took a step back.

'Thanks,' he replied awkwardly.

'Doctor Banner is only here to track the cube,' Fury said, looking at Stark sternly. 'I was hoping you might join him.'

'I'd start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon.' Steve said, looking back at Doctor Banner.

'I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys.' Fury said, crossing his arms.

'Monkeys?' Thor repeated. 'I do not understand…'

'I do!' Steve exclaimed, pointing at Thor. Nadia saw Tony roll his eyes and glared at him. 'I…understood that reference.'

Tony turned to Bruce. 'Shall we play it, doctor?'

Bruce gestured to the door. 'This way, sir.'

Nadia stood up and looked at Steve. 'I'm hungry. Want to join me in the cafeteria?' she asked and he nodded, following her out of the room.

'The suit looks good on you.' She said, looking straight ahead. Steve blushed a little.

'It's a little different to how I remember. Bit…tighter.'

'Has Coulson asked you to sign his trading cards yet?' Nadia snickered. Steve groaned.

'You know about that?'

She laughed. 'Everyone knows about that, Steve. He's your biggest fan. I think it's kind of cute.'

They pushed the door open to the cafeteria and found it was mostly empty. Nadia grabbed a ham sandwich and Steve grabbed one of everything. They sat down to eat at a table near the T.V in the corner.

'At least we got to have dinner together this week.' Steve said. Nadia nodded and after a moment, looked around and kicked her heels off her feet. She sighed in relief.

'That's better.' She said, 'I'm sorry I had to miss it.'

'Don't worry about it.' He said with a smile.

'So what kind of bike did you get?' She asked.

'Harley Davidson. I had one similar to it during the war. This one is definitely a lot nicer though.'

'You taken it out for a ride yet?'

'Yeah. It rides like a dream. The engine has good power in it, from what I understood. The salesperson definitely knew more than me about it. I feel like he and Howard would have gotten on great.'

'What was Howard like?' Nadia asked, curious and brushing crumbs from the corners of her mouth.

'He was a genius. A good friend. He's pretty similar to Tony from what I've seen. But Howard wasn't a jerk to everyone he met. He just liked to show off.'

'Yeah there's no family resemblance at all.' Nadia laughed and Steve joined her. When they both quietened down, Nadia glanced up at Steve and caught his eye.

They stared at each other for a moment and Nadia felt her heart pick up speed. She could spend all day looking at him. Especially in that uniform. What was it about a man in uniform? She really needed to stop feeling like this about him. He wasn't interested in her like that, and she didn't blame him. She'd seen the pictures of Peggy Carter. Talk about comparing apples and oranges. At least Peggy had been normal.

'I think I'll go get changed. This skirt is starting to annoy me.' Nadia said, standing up quickly and snatching the leftovers of her sandwich from the table. She bolted from the room as fast as her legs could carry her and she only slowed down when she'd turned the corner. Her cheeks felt warm and her hands were a little sweaty.

'Nadia!' Steve called and she jumped, turning. He jogged to a stop in front of her, holding out her heels in his hand. She smiled and quickly took the shoes from him.

'Thanks Steve.' She said and turned, only to bump into another agent. She apologized and with a burning face, retreated to her room not looking back at a dumbfounded Steve.


	6. Chapter 6

**A.N – So. Steve has feelings for Nadia. Nadia has feelings for Steve. It's a tale as old as time. Please leave a review. Send me some love!**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Six

Steve wandered back to the lab, thoughts buzzing. He kept thinking of the way Nadia looked tonight. She should wear a skirt more often. Steve had never noticed that she had subtle but slim curves before, and her legs looked so long in those high heels. When she'd looked at him in the cafeteria, he'd felt something stir inside his chest that he hadn't felt since…Peggy. But it seemed stronger this time than during the war. And she'd been worried he'd be disgusted by her abilities, when really, they just made him admire her more. She was young, beautiful and intelligent, kind but tough and could handle herself. She was a catch, and Steve didn't understand why some lucky guy hadn't snatched her up already.

He kept thinking back to earlier when they'd talked on the bridge. She'd offered to take him flying. He'd almost guess she was flirting with him, but he wasn't the best at interpreting women's actions. Perhaps she had only wanted to be kind? But he did know he liked the way she would bat her eyelashes at him from behind those glasses. He did know he liked how she made him feel like he was important. He definitely liked that she listened to him and that she'd been there for him during the most difficult weeks of his life. He liked that she made him laugh.

Steve began to daydream a little, about what it might be like to be with someone, properly. He and Peggy had never really done anything about their mutual feelings, but they'd been there and they were strong. With Nadia, another beautiful dame, it seemed like maybe he'd have a second chance. But perhaps she might not think of him that way. Perhaps she would prefer it if they remained just as they were, in a comfortable friendship.

The thought did not improve Steve's mood.

'Ow!'

Steve jumped and marched into the lab. Tony was peering at Bruce intently, a metal rod in his hand. 'Hey! Are you nuts?'

'Jury's out.' Tony replied, turning back to Bruce, 'You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?'

'Is everything a joke to you?' Steve demanded of Tony. He pointed the metal rod at Steve.

'Funny things are.' He said. The automatic door slid open and Nadia came in. She was wearing ripped skinny jeans, the same purple blouse from before and had switched her heels for converses. She had tucked her glasses up on top of her head.

'Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship is not funny.' Steve said, before adding, 'No offence, Doctor.'

'No, it…it's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things.' Bruce said, glancing at Nadia and then at Steve.

'You're tiptoeing, big man. You need to strut.' Tony said.

'And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark.' Steve said. Nadia crossed her arms and leaned her hip on the table in front of her, eyeing the scepter with apprehension and curiosity.

'You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us in and why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables.' Tony said, retrieving a bag of food that he'd hidden somewhere.

Nadia looked around at Tony. 'You think Fury's hiding something from us?'

Tony snorted, 'He's a spy.' He looked at Steve, 'Captain, he's _the_ spy. His secrets have secrets.' Tony jerked his thumb at Bruce and tossed some blueberries into his mouth. 'It's bugging him too.'

'Uh…I just wanna finish my work here and…'

'Bruce?' Nadia asked. Bruce sighed and took off his glasses.

'"A warm light for all mankind to share." Loki's jab at Fury about the cube.' Bruce said.

Steve nodded, tucking his thumbs into the belt of his suit. 'I heard it.'

Bruce looked over at Tony. 'Well I think that was meant for you.' Tony held out the bag for Bruce, who took a handful of blueberries. 'Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the Tower, it was still all over the news.'

'The Stark Tower? That big ugly – ' Tony threw Steve a dark look, 'Building in New York?' Steve finished. Nadia's lip twitched.

'It's powered by an Arc Reactor, a self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for, what, a year?' Bruce asked and Tony shrugged.

'It's just a prototype. I'm kinda the only name in clean energy right now, is what he's getting at.' Tony explained to Steve who nodded in understanding.

'So why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project? I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?' Bruce wondered.

Tony took a small, clear tablet from his pocket and looked at it. 'I should probably look into that once my decryption program finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files.'

'I'm sorry, did you say…?' Steve started.

'Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours we'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide.' He held the food packet out to Steve. 'Blueberry?'

Nadia reached forwards and grabbed a few. 'Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around?' Steve asked, narrowing his eyes in a glare at Tony.

'An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically not awesome.'

'I think Loki's trying to put us all on edge.' Nadia input, look around at the men in the room.

Steve nodded, 'This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them.'

'Following is not really my style.' Tony popped a few more berries in his mouth.

Steve glared at Tony, 'And you're all about style, aren't you?

'Of the people in this room, which one is, a) wearing a spangly outfit, and b) not of use?'

'Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?' Bruce asked. Nadia sighed and couldn't help but agree with Tony and Bruce even though she didn't like it.

Steve looked around at all of them and snapped, 'Just find the cube,' before stalking from the room. Nadia followed behind him, nearly having to jog to keep up with his long, purposeful strides.

'Steve.' She said. When she didn't get an answer, she tried again, 'Steve, where are you going?'

'To do things the old-fashioned way. I'm going to looked around. I don't like to admit it, but Tony is right. Something is not right around here.' He replied. Nadia shot out a hand and grabbed his wrist, forcing him to stop. She looked around and sighed.

'Come with me.' She whispered, jerking her head to the left. Steve followed her down the corridor and then to the service stairs. 'They can see if we take the elevator. But if we take the stairs they won't know we're going to secure storage.'

'Storage?' Steve asked, holding the door open for her after she yanked the heavy thing ajar.

'If Fury is hiding something, it'll be down there. Only agents are allowed in secure storage.' She whispered, entering the staircase. She skipped down the stairs nimbly, Steve following behind, his heavy boots echoing on the concrete steps.

'If only agents are supposed to know about secure storage, how did you come across the information?'

'I couldn't sleep last night, so I snooped around a bit.'

They took the stairs all the way down to the bottom level. Nadia poked her head out of the door to make sure nobody was coming, then gestured for Steve to follow her. The main corridor was dark and dimly lit, and nobody was patrolling around to catch them. All the storage doors were open, except for one marked _Secure Storage 10-C._ She tried to open the handle, but it was locked. Steve stepped forward.

'If you'll allow me?' he asked and Nadia moved aside. He gripped the handle and the top of the door and pushed, straining against the heavy metal while she kept a lookout. After a moment, a heavy creaking sound came from the door and it slid open. Steve looked once behind him and ushered Nadia in ahead of him. The room was filled with silver crates and lockboxes, the floor outlined in yellow paint. It was dim and badly lit, making it hard to see anything.

Both their heads whipped around at the sound of voices coming from ahead. Steve looked around and saw a walkway twelve feet above them. He quickly used a crate as leverage to push himself up, and grabbed the walkway railing, pulling himself up and over. He couldn't help but think that maybe he was showing off just a little bit to impress Nadia. She followed right behind him, pushing off from the ground and gracefully floating up to the walkway, landing next to him without a sound.

She flashed him a self-conscious smile, 'What?' she whispered.

He was staring. 'I've never seen anybody just…fly like that.' He replied, his voice hushed.

'I manipulate the air currents around me to support my weight. It's a little harder indoors but I manage.' She explained in a low whisper as if what she had just done was as easy as breathing. Steve nodded. She was amazing.

He led the way for a while until they reached the end of the walkway. They turned right and then went down the walkway, using the stairs this time. They walked for a while, until they found a sign that read _Phase 2_ marked on some silver crates. Steve went to open them but Nadia held an arm out.

'They're locked.' Nadia pointed out. She took a breath and in her hand appeared a ball of fire. Steve jumped back out of surprise. She held the flames over the locks until they were flexible enough for Steve to rip off. She did this to about five crates before they opened one. What Steve saw inside made his stomach churn and white hot, burning anger filled his body. In the crate lay an old HYDRA gun, mask, and the Nazi red, white and black flag. Nadia gasped and went to open the next crate. They all held the same guns, and each had the symbol of HYDRA printed on them.

'What are these? Old HYDRA weapons?' she whispered. Steve didn't reply, simply staring at the contents of the box. 'Steve?'

'Why do they have these?' he ground out through clenched teeth. He wanted to punch something.

'I don't know.'

'Don't you? Or are you keeping that from me too?' He snapped and Nadia recoiled, hurt. He immediately felt remorse. 'I'm sorry. It's just…I've never hated anything in my life…but I _hate_ HYDRA.'

'I know. I don't blame you. I honestly don't know what SHIELD is doing with these.' She said, her voice soft.

'Phase 2…' Steve muttered. 'The energy jab Loki made, the research on the Tesseract. SHIELD is making weapons.'

Nadia swallowed thickly, looking worried. 'Why would they do that?'

Steve snatched a gun from the crate and swung it over his shoulder. 'Let's go ask.'

He stormed out of the storage room, Nadia behind him. She didn't say anything to him and guilt began to gnaw at his insides like a cancer. He had snapped at her and that hadn't been fair. She'd only kept her abilities from him because she feared judgement and in a moment of anger and hurt, he'd lashed out at her. She didn't deserve that.

'I'm sorry for how I spoke before,' he said, pressing the elevator button. He didn't care if people saw him on security video. 'You didn't deserve that.'

'That's alright.'

'No, it's not.'

'No.' Nadia agreed, getting into the elevator. 'But I know why you did. I get it. HYDRA…it ruined your life. You should have been able to finish the war. Maybe get married and have children. You should have experienced all the things that have happened since but you couldn't because HYDRA forced you into an impossible decision. It's natural that you reacted the way you did. I probably would have done the same. So, don't worry about it, okay?'

Steve knew, then and there, that Nadia Paolera was a wonderful woman he would not be giving up on any time soon.


	7. Chapter 7

**A.N – I'm sorry for not updating last week. The lead up to Christmas had me running around like a mad person. Some action in this chapter too so hopefully that makes up for my absence. Please drop a review if you feel so inclined.**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Seven

Nadia and Steve strode into the lab, both angry and annoyed at being lied to and kept in the dark. Director Fury was standing in the middle of the lab, a severe contrast to the sterile white equipment in his all black attire. Tony was staring at the screen in front of him, sitting on top of a table while Bruce lounged behind the desk.

'What is Phase 2?' Tony asked. Steve dumped the old HYDRA gun on the table in front of him with a loud _clang_ , which caught the attention of everyone in the room.

'Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the Tesseract to make weapons.' He said, looking at Tony, 'Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow for me.'

Fury walked over to Steve and placed a hand over the weapon. 'Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're – '

'I'm sorry, Nick. What were you lying?' Tony asked, swinging the screen around so they could all see the designs for the weapons of Phase 2. Nadia crossed her arms and glared at Fury.

'I was wrong, Director. The world hasn't changed a bit.' Steve stated coolly, staring at Fury who looked like a child who was caught drawing on the walls.

'And you wondered why I didn't want to join your initiative.' Nadia crossed her arms. 'You were worried I wouldn't fight because I don't do violence, well, I most certainly don't do lying.'

The door slid open to the lab and Natasha filed in, Thor right behind her. She was assessing the room keenly with bright green eyes. She looked a little nervous to Nadia.

'Did you know about this?' Bruce asked the spy, pointing to the plans.

Natasha walked forward like a fox stalking a rabbit. 'You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?'

'I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed.' He scoffed.

'Loki's manipulating you.' Natasha stated, pacing forward, backing her prey into a corner before she stuck.

'And you've been doing, what, exactly?

'You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you.'

'Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy.' Bruce said, once again pointing at the plans. 'I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction.'

'Because of him.' Fury replied, pointing an accusing finger at Thor. The room was silent for a beat.

'Me?' The god asked, looking astounded. Nadia for one, was curious as to what justification Fury had for making weapons. She didn't like fighting, not because she wasn't good at it, not because she was a doctor, but because she hated causing other people pain. The fact that SHIELD, an organization who was dedicated to protecting people, were making weapons, made her feel sick. They were going against everything they believed in, their core values. Nadia looked at Steve. She wondered how he must feel about all this. He had a connection to SHIELD like nobody else did and perhaps to him, this would be the ultimate betrayal.

Fury started pacing the room. 'Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge mass that levelled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, _hilariously_ , out gunned.'

'My people want nothing but peace with your planet.' Thor pointed out.

'But you're not the only people out there, are you? And, you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, that can't be controlled.' Everybody glanced either at Bruce, or at Nadia. She looked down at her feet, feeling her cheeks heat up.

'Like you controlled the cube?' Steve asked.

'Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war.' Thor explained.

'A higher form?' Nadia repeated worriedly.

Fury said, 'You forced our hand. We had to come up with something.'

'A nuclear deterrent.' Tony cut in. ''Cause that always calms everything right down.'

'Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?' Fury drawled.

Steve stepped forward. 'I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep – '

Tony interrupted again, 'Wait! Wait! Hold on! How is this now about me?'

'I'm sorry, isn't everything?' Steve snorted. His dislike of Stark was evident.

'I thought humans were more evolved than this.' Thor muttered.

'Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?' Fury asked, outraged.

Everyone started speaking at once and Nadia felt like she was watching the world's most complicated tennis match. Her head started to hurt and she felt a headache coming on. Steve and Tony stood before her and she was tempted to tell them just to take them out and measure, already. Natasha, Thor and Fury were arguing as well. She glanced over at Bruce, who was pinching the bridge of his nose and taking deep breaths. Allowing her senses to crawl outwards from her body, she felt, through the vibrations in the floor beneath her, that Bruce's heartrate was up.

'You speak of control, yet you court chaos.' Thor said.

'It's his M.O., isn't it? I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're…we're a time-bomb.' Bruce said, crossing his arms.

'You need to step away.' Fury said, stressing the words and speaking clearly.

'Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?' Tony asked, clapping a hand on Steve's shoulder.

Steve shoved the hand off him, 'You know damn well why! Back off!'

'Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me.' Tony said, squaring off with Steve. Nadia shook her head, regretting coming aboard more and more with every passing second. This is exactly what she wanted to avoid.

'Yeah, big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?' Steve asked.

Without missing a beat, Tony replied with, 'Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.'

'I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you.' Steve said. Nadia saw Tony's eyes flash with anger and she understood why. Steve had called Tony selfish in the most insulting way; that he wouldn't do the right thing and sacrifice himself if need be to save others.

'I think I would just cut the wire.'

Steve scoffed and shook his head. 'Always a way out. You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero.'

'A hero? Like you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle.'

Nadia winced at the insult and stepped further away from the two, who looked ready to start fighting each other right then and there.

Thor chuckled. 'You people are so petty…and tiny.'

Bruce rolled his eyes. 'Yeah, this is a team…

Fury turned to Natasha, having had quite enough of the bickering and back-and-forth. 'Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his –'

'Where? You rented my room.' Bruce gestured in the direction of the cage, where Loki was currently sitting.

'The cell was just…' Fury began to explain.

'In case you needed to kill me, but you can't! I know, I tried.' The room went dead silent and they all stared at Bruce in astonishment. He shrugged his crossed arms defensively. 'I got low, I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on, I focused on helping other people. I was good. Until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?'

Nadia noticed at the same time everyone else did and tensed up. Steve stuck out a hand and gently pushed Nadia behind him. Fury reached down to grip his gun at the same time as Natasha. Thor took a tentative step forward.

'Doctor Banner.' Steve said and Bruce swung his head around to look at the Captain, his eyes a little crazed. 'Put down the scepter.'

The computer began to beep loudly, cutting through the heavy tension in the room and Fury turned around, glancing at the monitor. 'Got it.'

Bruce put the scepter down on the table and sighed. He walked over to the computer to get the location on the Tesseract. 'Sorry kids, guess you don't get to see my party trick after all.'

'Located the Tesseract?' Thor asked quickly.

'I can get there faster.' Tony stated.

'Look, all of us…' Steve began. Nadia sensed another argument about to unfold.

'The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, no human is a match for it.' Thor said, but nobody aside from Nadia was listening and she was inclined to agree with him. Alien technology wasn't safe in the hands of humans. Just look what HYDRA had accomplished with it, and the thought of what they could have done if Steve hadn't been there to stop them sent a shiver of dread down Nadia's spine.

Tony made to leave but Steve stopped him.'You're not going alone!' he stated.

'You gonna stop me?' It sounded like a dare to Nadia and she rolled her eyes at Tony. He may be a genius, but he certainly acted like a child sometimes.

'Put on the suit, let's find out.'

'I'm not afraid to hit an old man.' Tony got in Steve's face.

'Put on the suit.' Steve said between clenched teeth. Nadia walked over to look on the monitor, eager to get away from their testosterone fueled anger. Bruce was staring at the screen and gaped at Nadia.

'Oh my god…' he whispered. Nadia was about to ask what the problem was when there was a BANG followed by a huge gust of air. Her ears popped and she was thrown backwards, right off her feet and through thick glass paneling. She felt the air rush around her as she fell towards the floor ten feet below. She landed on her back, hard. The air was snatched out of her lungs and Nadia had to remember how to breathe as she coughed and gagged. She couldn't hear a thing, the ringing in her ears was too loud. She felt something warm and wet ooze down her face and knew she had been hurt just before she blacked out.


	8. Chapter 8

**A.N – I thought it would be cruel to leave you all with a cliffhanger like that, so here's the next chapter! Please review.**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Eight

Someone was shaking Nadia. She couldn't have been out for more than a few seconds. She turned her head to the left and winced. She'd hit her head so hard that her vision swam. Reaching a hand up to support her aching head, Nadia felt something wet coat her fingers. Pulling it away she saw her hand shone red with blood, which, from what she could tell, caked and rand down the side of her face. Bruce and Natasha lay next to her, each with minor cuts and bruises as far as she could tell. Bruce was moaning and Natasha's leg was pinned under some pipes and the glass panes that had exploded when the bomb went off. Looking up, Nadia saw where they fell through and was relieved to see that there was no fire.

It was Natasha who had shaken her, face pale and eyes terrified, but she looked unhurt. Bruce was grunting now, on his hands and knees.

'Doctor? Bruce, you gotta fight it. This is just what Loki wants. We're gonna be okay. Listen to me.' Natasha was saying. Nadia shook her head, ignoring the sharp pain in her head and got her wits about her. Bruce was going to transform, possibly at any second, and they needed to get out of there. _Now_.

Nadia moved quietly, wobbling unsteadily on her feet as she started moving things off Natasha's leg, trying not to make too much noise and disturb Bruce any more. He was fighting the transformation, his back contorting painfully. A few agents rounded the corner and Nadia waved them away quickly, not wanting them to be around if the Hulk came out. They retreated hesitantly, but thankfully didn't stick around.

Natasha was still trying to talk Bruce down. 'We're gonna be okay. Right? I swear on my life I will get you out of this, you will walk away, and never – '

 _'_ _Your life?!'_ It came out as a shouted growl, in a voice that was not Bruce's. Nadia froze momentarily in fear and adrenalin started pumping through her veins. The Hulk would kill both Natasha and her if they didn't get out of there quickly. She started to move the wreckage off faster until all that was pinning Natasha's leg was a huge steel pipe. Every movement hurt and her ears were still ringing from the explosion, but she ignored it all. It was like suddenly she had tunnel vision and all she could focus on was getting Natasha out from the pipes and then running like hell.

Bruce fell sideways, his body contorting and his skin started to turn green. Muscles began to bulge out of his back and shoulders. He stumbled around, letting out horrible, terrifying cries of pain. Bruce looked over at Natasha and his eyes seemed human, even if they were glowing an unnatural green colour. Nadia braced herself and bent her knees, getting ready to lift the heavy pipe.

'Bruce?' Natasha whispered. He looked scared, helpless.

Nadia lifted the pipe and Natasha pulled her leg free quickly. They both got to their feet, staring up at the huge green creature that was now roaring in rage.

'Run.' Nadia stammered and they turned and fled as the Hulk looked over his shoulder at them to growl angrily. It barreled after them, tearing off the staircase. Natasha managed to grab the railing and swing herself up, but Nadia had to jump and then fly to reach the landing above.

'Go! Go!' Nadia said, pushing Natasha to keep going – the Agent had stopped to make sure she'd made it. They jumped and rolled over pipes and bolted away from the loud roars the Hulk let out as it chased them. The two women didn't stop, wanting to put as much distance between them and the creature that was following them. Eventually they stopped to catch their breaths, the Hulk's roars now farther away. Their faces were covered in a sheen of sweat, and in Nadia's case, blood. They were each panting, out of breath from fleeing and from the rush of adrenalin. They had run for ages, but Nadia wasn't sure exactly how long and she didn't care. Her hands were shaking violently. She hadn't been this scared in all her life.

'We should split up. The Hulk will have to pick one of us to follow. The other can go for help.' The red-head suggested in a whisper.

'I'm not leaving you alone, Natasha.' Nadia huffed.

'We don't have much of a choice.' She replied, her voice harsh but hushed. Nadia saw that Natasha looked as terrified as she felt, which was comforting, in an odd sort of way. Perhaps because if a trained assassin and SHIELD agent was as scared as Nadia was in that moment, then what she was feeling was rational. After a moment, the doctor nodded and pointed to the left.

'I'll go this way.' She said, then swiftly pulled Natasha into a hug. 'Watch your back.'

Nadia turned and bolted, ducking her head and racing up some stairs. She continued, walking carefully and quietly so as not to make any noise, fighting every instinct in her body that screamed at her to run until her legs gave out. She could hear her heart beating in her ears and she was shivering from the shock of what had just happened. She'd seen the footage of the Hulk, but it didn't do any justice. He really was terrifying and a lot bigger than she thought he'd be. Nadia gulped, remembering how those eyes had looked at her and Natasha, full of murderous rage. She knew that she'd have nightmares about those eyes.

After walking for another fifteen minutes, she saw a door up ahead. Nadia raced for it, pushed it open and ran on her shaking legs until she reached the control deck. She hadn't realized that the sun had started to come up. Compared to the dark corridors below, it was blindingly bright here. Fury was standing near some monitors, talking to Agent Hill. Nadia skidded to a stop next to them, puffed.

'The Hulk…he's down on level three. Natasha is still down there.' She gasped out. Fury's face went slack and pressed a hand to the earpiece he wore.

'Thor, we need you down on level three. The Hulk is down there. Do you copy?'

'What must I copy?' came the god's reply and Fury rolled his eyes.

'It means, do you understand?'

'Yes I do, Sir Fury!'

Fury then turned to Agent Hill. 'We need full evac on the lower hangar bays.' She nodded and signaled for a few other Agents to follow her out of the room. Fury put a hand on Nadia's upper arm, looking concerned.

'You okay?'

'GRENADE!'

There was another explosion, but Nadia was too far away from it to send her flying off her feet again, but she did duck instinctively and throw her hands over her face. Fury pulled her down so she was shielded by a cracked and broken monitor.

Fury unhooked a gun from his thigh-holster and stealthily walked to the door, standing beside it as men dressed as SHIELD agents came in, holding loaded guns. Nadia rolled and ducked behind another monitor and spied an open bottle of water on the desk next to her. She uncapped it and drew the water out, she molded it to form the shape of a spear, froze it, and then stood up. She took aim, then launched it into the chest of one of the agents. Fury managed to drop the other two easily with his gun, firing in quick and accurate succession. There was a third gunshot and an unseen fourth agent dropped to the floor, dead. Nadia looked to her left to see Agent Hill standing there, looking annoyed as blood tricked down her face from a cut just above her eye.

More hostile men dressed as SHIELD agents came in and Nadia huffed. She was thoroughly pissed off. She'd been blown up, chased by an enormous green rage monster, fired upon and killed a man in the space of less than two hours. Fury and Agent Hill had ducked behind an overturned desk nearby and she joined them, huddled away from the fight and blocking her sensitive ears from the loud gunshots.

'Sir!' called an agent from near the monitors that were tucked out of the firing line. He had a bald head and wore shiny silver glasses. Nadia unblocked her ears in time to hear, 'The Hulk and Thor are on research bay 1 and shuttle bays 3 and 4!'

'The Hulk is going to tear this place apart.' Nadia said, wincing at the continuous sounds of shooting and huddling further away. She wished she knew how to fire a gun right now.

'Get his attention!' Fury called to Agent Hill who ducked down and barked orders into her ear piece quickly. Nadia saw an agent on their side drop from a gunshot wound and she glanced at Fury. He jerked his head and she nodded. Gathering what courage she had, Nadia pulled herself up and jumped over the railing, rolling to break her fall. She ran with her hands over her head and then skidded on her knees over to the agent, stopping at his side.

'Hey, you're going to be okay.' She said. It was only a kid, maybe nineteen. He'd been shot in the stomach, and Nadia quickly ripped off her blouse, left only in a tank top, and pressed it to the bleeding wound. She ducked as a bullet flew by, close to her head. The boy moaned at the pain. 'I know it hurts but I have to keep the pressure on. You'll be okay.'

'I want my mother.' He groaned and Nadia's heart constricted.

An arrow flew past and hit the control panel opposite her. The station blew up and she threw her body on top of the young agent's to protect him from the blast. There was a second explosion and six agents flew through the air. Fury stood up and shot at the vent twelve feet above, but missed. Nadia looked down at the kid again and her face dropped. He was staring up at the ceiling, face blank. He wasn't breathing. Pressing her shaking hand to the side of his neck she checked for a pulse. There wasn't one.

Her hands were covered in his blood and the front of her shirt too. She stood up when the gunshots stopped and looked at Fury just as the ship began to tip sideways. They all wobbled where they stood, trying to find their balance as the helicarrier moved under them.

'Sir, we've lost all power in engine 1.' The same agent from before reported. Nadia saw a glimpse of his badge. Jasper was his name.

'It's Barton. He took out our systems. He's headed for the detention level. Does anybody copy?' Fury asked, pressing his earpiece again. There was a pause and then through the speakers Nadia heard a voice.

'This is Agent Romanoff. I copy.'

Nadia breathed a sigh of relief. Natasha was okay. She was alive. She'd survived the Hulk's attack.

'Stark, we're losing altitude!' Fury quipped into his earpiece and stared at the monitor in front of him. Nadia went over to him and glanced at the numbers flashing in various colours. If the ship crashed she could fly away without getting harmed, but she wasn't sure how many people she could carry. Not to mention, even though there were enough ships to get everyone off the helicarrier, the helicarrier itself would crash . She knew that if Tony couldn't get the engine working again, a lot of people were going to die.

Nadia noticed a flashing box in the corner, where Fury's blind spot is. She tapped it and sucked in a breath. 'Shit.' She patted Fury's shoulder to get his attention and pointed at the notification. Fury's jaw clenched.

'Agent Hill, I'm going to down to the detention block. Somebody has released the cage and I'm betting Loki was not in it.'

Nadia hurried after Fury, who glanced at her, but said nothing as they unsteadily made their way from the command centre. She quickly wiped her blood-soaked hands on her ruined shirt and tried to stop them from shaking. She was coming down from the adrenaline rush that had enabled her survival for the last two hours, but now she started to feel shaky, cold and exhausted. She wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed and sleep, something she hadn't done in…two days?

She wondered if Steve was alright. She hadn't seen him since that argument in the lab, and she hoped he hadn't been hurt in the explosion. Her heart dropped at the thought.

The ship had righted itself and, now able to run on even ground, they hurried into the detention room that housed the cage, only to see it gone. Nadia glanced around and then saw Fury kneel next to Coulson, who sat slumped against the wall, face pale and his shirt was covered in blood. Nadia gasped. He'd been stabbed in the back.

'Sorry boss,' he managed to croak out, 'They got rabbited.'

Fury took the huge weapon that lay in Coulson's lap and laid it to the side. 'Just stay awake. Eyes on me.'

'No, I'm clockin' out here.' Coulson murmured.

'Not an option.'

Nadia turned and ran to the corridor where some agents were milling about. 'We need a medic in here!' she screamed, and even she could hear the hysteria and panic in her voice. She didn't have the tools to save Coulson's life right now, and she knew that if they didn't get someone up here in the next minute, based off the amount of blood she'd seen, Coulson wouldn't survive. He needed surgery in order to repair the damage, not to mention a blood transfusion and god knew what else.

She rushed back in and knelt beside Coulson to start prepping him for when the other medics arrived, but he'd stopped breathing. His eyes stared blankly ahead and his body was limp. With a lump in her throat the size of an orange, and tears in her eyes, she felt for a pulse while Fury just stared at the fallen agent, presumably in shock. Nadia felt no pulse and sniffling, turned to look at the clock on the wall.

'Time of death…1:14 p.m.' she said, before sitting back, crossing her legs and putting her face in her hands as she sobbed. She'd known Coulson since he'd asked her to consult for SHEILD when she was barely out of med school. They hadn't spent a lot of time together, and they weren't very close, but he was an honorable, good man and she felt his loss deeply.

Fury stood up after a moment and let the medical team have access to Coulson's body. He bent down and picked Nadia off the floor, helping her to her feet, but she just leaned against the wall, still crying and waving his hands away, not wanting to be touched right now.

Pressing a hand to his earpiece, Fury said, 'Agent Coulson is down.'

Nadia heard a voice reply, 'A medical team is on its way to your location.'

'They're here.' Fury hesitated before adding sadly, 'They called it.'

She let out another gut-wrenching sob, then walked away.


	9. Chapter 9

**A.N – Coulson's death just sucked. I was so happy when they brought him back for** _ **Agents of SHIELD**_ **. Good show, if none of you have seen it.**

 **Also, I see all of you favouriting and following, and was wondering if you could please leave a review. It really motivates me.**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Nine

Steve sat staring at the table top, unsure of what to feel right now. Next to him, sat Nadia. Fury had told him what she'd been through after the explosion. He'd even told Steve that Nadia had killed somebody by sending a spear of ice through a man's chest. He'd been more than a little surprised to hear that. Nadia always said she hated violence, that she wouldn't fight unless she had to. To find out that she hadn't disarmed someone, hadn't knocked them out but instead killed someone, astonished Steve.

She looked terribly upset. Her eyes were pink and puffy, her glasses nowhere to be seen. The cut on her head had been cleaned up and butterfly bandages had been applied. When Steve had first seen her, he'd been alarmed and felt an instant and almost overwhelming feeling of concern fall over him. There was a large cut on her head that was bleeding profusely down her face, and her hands and shirt were covered in bright, scarlet blood. But after assuring Steve it wasn't hers, she'd collapsed in his arms and cried. He'd held her there, not knowing what to say as she sobbed into the front of his uniform. He didn't think Coulson and Nadia had been that close, but it was clear she'd respected the man greatly and felt his loss.

Tony seemed stunned too. He hadn't said a word in the last hour, which was the longest Steve had gone without hearing the genius say something. Fury was standing at the head of the table, shuffling something in his hands.

Finally, Fury broke the silence.

'These were in Phil Coulson's jacket.' He tossed what he'd been holding in his hands onto the table in front of Steve. They were the Captain America trading cards that Coulson had wanted him to sign. The agent had said they were in near-mint condition, and now they were spotted in the fallen man's blood. 'Guess he never did get you to sign them.'

Nadia turned her head away, as if she couldn't bear to look at the cards. Steve picked one up and examined it closely, feeling guilty he'd brushed the agent off earlier.

Fury sighed and braced his hands on the table. 'We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye.' He shook his head. 'Maybe I had that coming.'

He began to walk around the table, stopping behind a chair next to Nadia and then moving around to the one between Steve and Tony. He placed his hands on the backrest. 'Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark and Doctor Paolera both know this…' Fury's eyes shot to Nadia, who was resolutely avoiding everyone's gaze, '…called _The Avengers Initiative_. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea. In heroes.'

 _Tony stood up abruptly and walked away from the table. Nadia quickly did the same and Steve thought he heard her sniffle loudly as she hurried away. Fury watched after them as they left the deck area. He crossed his hands behind his back and looked down at his feet._

 _'_ Well, it's an old-fashioned notion.'

Coulson's words from the quinjet rushed back to Steve and he sighed. He pushed back the chair and went after Nadia. He caught up to her quickly and touched her elbow to get her to stop.

'Hey.' He said gently, 'You okay?'

Nadia wiped her cheeks to get rid of tears and nodded. 'Just… I killed somebody today. So many people died today and they didn't deserve it. They were brainwashed by Loki but I had to because if I didn't, that man would have killed me and God knows who else. And then Loki killed Coulson, a man who had morals and was honest and good. He stabbed him in the back and Coulson…He didn't deserve that. I just…' she shrugged helplessly. 'He just didn't deserve it. It's not fair.'

'I know.' Steve agreed and then added, 'I thought you didn't like fighting.'

'I don't. I'm a doctor, not an agent. That's how I help people. By finding out what's wrong with them, by stitching them up. Not by putting bullets or shards of ice in their chests.'

'But you did that today. Are you okay?'

'Not really. I just…I feel like I had no choice. When you're backed to a wall sometimes you have to just fight your way out. And I was so angry at what they did…' She sighed. 'But I know that doesn't make it okay. I should be saving people, not sending them to their deaths.'

'Did you ever think maybe you could do both? Help people by being a doctor and a hero?' Steve wondered. Nadia swallowed thickly and looked down at her shoes.

'I'm going to go and shower, then check on Barton. Natasha's with him.' She said and Steve nodded, hating to see her go, hating to see her so upset and unable to do anything about it. He cared for her, so much, but right now, he couldn't help her. She had to make the decision on what her next move would be on her own.

Instead, he went in search of Tony. His first guess, that he would be in the detention bay where the cage had been kept, was correct. He was standing with his hands behind his back, staring at the floor that had opened and tossed Thor into the unknown. Steve leaned against a railing, crossing his arms.

'Was he married?' Steve asked, his voice carrying across the distance between him and Tony.

'No. There was a…uh…cellist, I think.'

Steve looked down at his shoes, sad. 'I'm sorry. He seemed like a good man.'

Tony snorted and began dawdling over to the Captain. 'He was an idiot.'

'Why? For believing?' Steve raised his eyebrows.

'For taking on Loki alone.'

'He was doing his job.' Steve pointed out, walking towards Tony, who scoffed.

'He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have…'

Steve knew that Tony was lashing out because he was hurt and looking for somebody to blame. 'Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony.'

'Right.' Tony winked an eye sarcastically and pointed a finger at Steve briefly, before passing him. 'I've heard that before.'

'Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?'

Tony rounded on Steve and snarled, 'We are not soldiers!' He took a breath in order to steady himself. 'I'm not marching to Fury's fife.

Steve shook his head. 'Neither am I. None of us are. He's got the same blood on his hands that Loki does, but right now we gotta put that behind us and _get this done_.' Tony was staring at the wall where a large bloodstain shone, the red standing out from the dark wall. 'Now, Loki needs a power source, if we can put together a list – '

'He made it personal.' Tony stated, like the thought had just occurred to him.

Steve frowned at the interruption. 'That's not the point.'

'That _is_ the point. That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?'

Steve could tell Tony was onto something and went along with it. 'To tear us apart.' He answered.

'Yeah divide and conquer is great, but…he knows he has to take us out to win, right? _That's_ what he wants. He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience.' Tony said, climbing the stairs as his brain ran at a hundred miles a minute trying to figure out what their next move was.

'Right.' Steve agreed, 'I caught his act in Stuttgart.'

'Yeah. That's just previews, this is…' Tony clapped the back of his hand into the other one, lost in thought. 'This is opening night. And Loki, he's a full-tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered – !'

Tony and Steve realised at the same moment what Loki was planning to use as a power source.

'Son of a bitch.'

'Can you tell me what day it is?'

'Monday.'

'And do you know where you are?'

'On the SHILED helicarrier.'

Nadia clicked the light off and tucked it into the pocket of her jeans. Clint was slouching on the medical bed as she examined his reflexes and nerve responses, his face pale as he answered her questions. She crossed her arms and looked at Natasha.

'Well, everything is normal, as far as I can tell.' She said. Aside from ordering a brain scan, she'd done everything in her power to conclude that Clint Barton was once again his own man. 'Well,' Nadia amended, 'As normal as one can be after having a God in one's brain.'

Barton nodded and excused himself to go to the bathroom. Natasha tilted her head to the side.

'You okay?' she asked, her voice gentler than Nadia had ever heard it before.

'Yeah, just…crazy day.' That didn't seem to adequately explain how Nadia felt about what had happened in the last few days. She'd taken a long, hot shower and changed, throwing the clothes she'd been wearing into the bathtub and lighting them on fire before she'd set out to examine Clint.

'How are you handling it?'

'I think I'll have a few nightmares about the Hulk after this…but I think I'll be alright.'

'That wasn't what I was asking about.'

'I've killed someone before you know.' Nadia said. Natasha didn't say anything. 'I was in med school. Second year. I was walking from campus to the dorms and a guy came at me, swinging a baseball bat. I don't know what he wanted. Maybe to rob me. I just…reacted. I didn't mean to, but he was going to hurt me, maybe even kill me. I…Without thinking, I sent him flying thirty feet into the air. He broke his neck. I looked at his face…and it was…blank. There was no life there and I did that to him. So, I promised myself to only do good from then on. I promised myself no more violence. No more hurting people.'

'Sometimes we make promises we can't keep.' Natasha said. Nadia knew that her kill count was nothing compared to Natasha's, but taking a life left its mark. 'And it seems to me that by killing that one man today, you helped save everyone on this ship. That makes you a hero to me.'

Nadia smiled tightly, but didn't feel comforted by the agent's words.

The door slid open and Steve stepped in. Nadia felt relieved. He was like a breath of fresh air. He was wearing his full Captain America suit, his shield on his back and his helmet in his left hand. He sent Nadia a reassuring smile before turning to Natasha.

'Time to go.'

'Go where?' Natasha asked. Nadia furrowed her brow, confused.

'I'll explain on the way. Can you fly one of those jets?' Steve asked. The bathroom door opened and Barton came out, holding a towel in his hand.

'I can.' He volunteered. Steve, wary and unsure, looked at Natasha and then at Nadia who both nodded. Barton could do this.

'You got a suit?' he asked Barton, who nodded once.

'Yeah.'

'Then suit up.' Steve was in full Captain mode and left quickly after giving his orders. Nadia swallowed thickly.

'You're coming, right?' Natasha asked. Nadia scrunched up her face and shook her head.

'I think I've had enough violence for one day. Besides, I'm no good in a fight, not like you guys.' She said. Natasha snorted.

'You outran the Hulk with me and shot an ice spear into a man's chest while defending the command deck. I've seen the footage of your combat training sessions and your abilities. You can do this.'

'I'm a doctor. I don't help people like you do.'

Natasha laid her hands on top of Nadia's shoulders. 'Yes, you're a doctor. You're also a woman and a human being. Right now, the world doesn't need Doctor Paolera. They need the Nymph.'

At first, Nadia had hated the codename SHIELD had given her. A nymph was a nature spirit from Greek mythology. Coulson had thought it was appropriate. Now that he was gone and after today's events…

'You have the power to save lives and you won't do it because you're afraid of what other people will think of you if you take another life and worse, what you'll think of yourself.' Natasha went on. 'Take it from me, they're never going to understand unless they've been in your shoes. So, screw them. Do what you need to do to get things done. You say you want to help people. So, get off your ass and do something. Stop playing the victim. You want to help? _Then help us_.'

Nadia blinked at the redhead and took a deep breath. Realising that Natasha was right, she nodded. She'd avoided violence because of what people would think of her for it, more than the fact that she hated seeing people in pain. But then again, she supposed with a small smirk, she was a doctor; she could always fix what she broke. 'I don't have a suit.'

Natasha jerked her head for Nadia to follow her. They went down to the personal quarters aboard the ship and Natasha led her into one of the larger ones. Nadia knew from all the collector's items and posters that this had been Coulson's room and felt extremely sad all over again. Natasha pulled out a silver case from under the bed and handed it to her.

'He designed this for you specially.' She said before leaving quickly. Nadia sat down on the bed after Natasha had left and placed the case on her knees. After taking a breath, she clicked the locks open and lifted the lid.

* * *

Steve stood in the back of the quinjet while Barton and Natasha sat in the cockpit, getting ready to take off. He was regretting not saying goodbye to Nadia now, knowing that this battle may not end well for him. It was like Peggy all over again, missing his chance to tell a woman he cared about just how much she meant to him. He wished he'd told Nadia how he thought she was incredible, and he wouldn't have wanted anyone else to help him get through the difficult time that he'd been through, adjusting to the world now. He'd have told her that even if she didn't think she could help in this fight, he did. She was stronger than she thought. He'd have told her that she was the best friend he'd had in a long time.

'Wait for me!'

Steve turned around and felt his eyes widen drastically, but managed to keep his jaw from dropping open. Nadia jogged up the quinjet's ramp and stopped in front of him. She was wearing her hair in a ponytail and black pants that fit snugly and clung to her hips. She wore a dark green tank top and a gold breastplate that covered her chest and abdomen. Her arms were covered in gloves that looped around her thumbs and ended just above her elbows, gold thread creating patterns of leaves that wound around her arms. On her feet, she wore lace up boots that ended at her knees. There were knives strapped to her thighs, a hilt stuck out from the top of her left boot and when she turned slightly, Steve saw that she had two long daggers crisscrossing at the middle of her back, under her breastplate, the handles sticking out ready to be grasped.

'What are you doing here?' was the first thing out of his mouth. Nadia sat down and buckled herself in as Clint raised the ramp and prepared for take-off.

'Helping.' She replied. Steve's mouth split into a smile and he sat down opposite her, buckling in and trying not so stare at her too much.

'What made you change your mind?'

'I realised that by doing nothing I could be doing more harm than good. So, I'm joining the club. I'm going to try to keep helping people in any way I can from now on, not just in the ways I'm comfortable with.'

Steve felt a swell of pride rise in him. 'Nice suit.'

'Coulson made it for me.' she replied, shifting in her seat self-consciously. The quinjet took off and Tony flew ahead of them in his Iron Man suit a streak of red and gold against the azure blue of the sky.

'Is that comfortable?' he asked, pointing to her breastplate.

'Surprisingly, yeah. It's made of the same material as your suit, but with an under layer of Kevlar plates. It's light, flexible but more importantly, bulletproof.'

'I don't think we'll be needing to worry about bullets in this battle.' Barton murmured and the passengers of the quinjet fell into silence, each wondering just what lay in store for them.


	10. Chapter 10

**A.N – I'm thinking of dividing the Battle of New York into two chapters, but we'll see how we go. We'll get to see a bit more of Nadia's powers and just how amazingly awesome they are. I was inspired by** _ **Avatar – The Last Airbender**_ **a bit, in terms of her fighting style and abilities. (If you haven't seen that show, shame on you because it's incredible)**

 **Leave a review if you feel so inclined, or more importantly, if you enjoyed the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Ten

Nadia stared out the window in dread – it was like a scene from a horror movie. There was a blue streak of light heading up into the sky, opening a dark hole in space from which creatures came flying through. They were tall, hunched figures with ugly faces, firing blue laser blasts into the population of Manhattan. Fires had started in the city already and Nadia could almost hear the people screaming in terror and shock.

Steve stood beside her, his eyes wide behind his helmet. She gripped the handle above her head even more tightly, feeling anxiety bubble in her stomach like acid at what was about to happen. She could see Tony flying around in his Iron Man suit, firing at the aliens and blowing them up, but there were too many for him to take on alone. She sighed and scratched her ear, which now housed a tiny communication device that would allow her to talk to the other members of the Avengers.

'Stark, we're on your three, heading north-east.' Natasha said from the cockpit.

'What, did you stop for drive-thru?' Tony sounded annoyed, his voice slightly distorted from being inside his Iron Man suit. 'Swing up park, I'm gonna lay 'em out for you.'

Clint made the adjustments and they flew left, lowering the machine cannon as Stark flew by, six or seven of the Chitauri on his tail. Natasha opened fire and dropped a few of them, but most simply swerved and pulled away on their flying spacecraft. Clint guided the quinjet up to Stark Tower, where Loki and Thor were fighting on the balcony. Nadia couldn't imagine what Thor was going through emotionally, having to fight his own brother like this.

'Nat?' Clint asked, glancing at the redhead quickly.

'I see 'em.' She replied. Clint banked the quinjet and they faced the two gods. Natasha fired on Loki, missing a few times and Nadia tensed when a bullet strayed close to his chest. Loki snarled and pointed the sceptre at the jet, firing a blast of blue energy at them.

The quinjet jolted in mid-air as one engine caught fire. Nadia smelt smoke and grabbed onto the railing tighter. She heard Clint swear under his breath and the quinjet started to spiral downwards. Nadia grit her teeth in an effort not to scream in fright. She and Steve were tossed around, legs flailing as they each held on tightly to the handles above them. Nadia was regretting unbuckling from her seat.

Clint was using the remaining wing to manoeuvre to the ground, the skyscrapers around them flashing past in blurs of colour as he tried not to hit them. The sounds of car horns and screams were getting louder as they approached the ground coming in too fast. Nadia closed her eyes and concentrated on the air around the quinjet, trying to use it to absorb some of the impact of their fall.

'Brace yourselves!' Clint yelled, just as the quinjet slammed into the street, the engine groaning. Rubble and debris flew up against the window and sides of the jet and they skidded to a stop. Nadia let go of the railing, her hands hurting and sweaty. The ramp lowered and Steve ran out. She followed closely behind, looking around. The street was covered in dirt and ash, cars lay abandoned in the middle of the street and the Chitauri flew above them. Terrified citizens ran around, screaming and crying as they tried to get away from the creatures.

'We've got to get back up there.' Steve said, running through the streets and towards Stark Tower. Natasha, Clint and Nadia followed him, coming to halt in a four-way street when they heard a loud, primal groaning noise. Nadia swallowed and looked up at the portal, her heart beating fast in her chest. She could see the blackness of space, with stars and constellations she wasn't familiar with glinting brightly in the middle of the day in Manhattan. Nadia almost choked on her own breath as she kept gazing upwards, the hairs on her arms standing on end.

A leviathan, bigger than anything she had ever seen, flew out of the portal, carrying hundreds of Chitauri soldiers on its back. Its teeth were as tall as a full-grown man and thick plated armour covered its back. It barrelled into a building, reducing stone statues to rubble. The leviathan flew over the four of them, soldiers releasing themselves and jumping onto the sides of skyscrapers and crashing through windows as they began to wreak havoc on the human population.

'Stark, are you seeing this?' Steve asked, looking around in a circle above them. Nadia gulped. They were extremely outnumbered.

'I'm seeing…still working on believing.' Tony replied in Nadia's ear. 'Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?

'Banner?' Steve asked.

'Just keep me posted.'

Laser blasts rained down on them and Nadia ducked, stepping behind one of the abandoned cars. Clint and Natasha joined her and before long, so did Steve. Clint fired a few arrows at Chitauri that came to close and Natasha unclipped her guns, ready to fire.

'We've got civilians trapped in – ' Clint was cut off when more Chitauri flew past, firing on their location and at the front of the group of flying aliens, sat Loki.

'Loki.' Steve said, making is sound like a curse.

The aliens continued to fire on the innocent people on the street below, and Nadia watched them flee, some police officers herding them away from the deadly blasts that erupted into fires. Nadia put her hands on the ground, feeling the power of the earth beneath her. She'd never wanted to shift so badly in her life, to launch her power at her enemies.

'They're fish in a barrel down there.' Steve remarked. A couple of Chitauri landed on the bridge with them and Nadia glared at them. A blast flew by Steve's head, shattering the window of the cab. Natasha returned fire and Clint snuck over to hide behind another cab.

'We got this. It's good. Go.' Natasha said with a nod to Nadia.

Steve asked, 'Think you can hold them off?'

'Captain,' Clint said, with a dangerous grin, 'It would be my genuine pleasure.'

He turned and fired an arrow into the crowd of aliens, which burst into a rain of bullets, effectively killing three more. Nadia let her body shift and change as Steve turned and launched himself off the bridge. Her legs and arms bent, her back lengthened, she sprouted a tail and her teeth grew sharp and powerful in her mouth. She stood there, a tall, vicious tiger. Without waiting for another moment, she pounced on the Chitauri, slashing at them with her claws and biting their heads off. More kept coming and Nadia shifted back to her human form, sending streaks of hot fire into the crowd, ducking and rolling out of the way when the aliens returned fire.

She and Natasha covered Clint as he helped people evacuate from a bus that had crashed. He lifted children down from the emergency window at the back, before wrenching the door open and allowing other terrified passengers to escape. Nadia grasped the big knives that were nestled at the small of her back and drew them out. She slashed at the aliens, cutting them down if they were in her path, and shooting a combination of fire blasts and rocks at them. She tried to move like water, spinning and turning and letting the shots the aliens sent her way shoot past her harmlessly. She swept the ground out from under them with her powers over the earth. She snatched the air from their bodies and they suffocated to death. She set fire to their miserable, destructive little heads. She reveled in killing the beings that were attacking her city, an emotion she never thought possible of herself.

'Just like Budapest all over again!' Natasha called to Clint.

'You and I remember Budapest very differently!' Clint replied. Nadia tried not to laugh, as this was a serious situation and she let out a strange gasping sound that might have once been a laugh, but nerves had changed it.

Nadia suddenly had an idea and flew up into the air. She quickly put her blades away and began to make a swirling motion with her hands, guiding the air around her to form a small tornado, which grew and grew with her command. When she was happy with the size of it, she set it on the Chitauri who were flying towards them. Those who survived the vortex were quickly put down by either Natasha or Clint. She tried her best to give them some air cover, but there were just so many aliens around them. Nadia had never been in a battle like this. Adrenaline was pumping through her veins by the bucket load. She was having a hard time of keeping her eyes on all the Chitauri that were coming towards her.

Nadia instinctively knew something was coming towards her and turned in midair to see what it was, only to be clipped by an oncoming alien, who sent her sprawling back to earth. She landed hard on the ground, rolling and coming to a stop behind another car. She groaned, raising herself onto her hands and knees, gasping painfully. She heard an alien growl and looking up, saw one advancing on her. She quickly shifted into a cat, ducked under the cab and then took off running again on her own human legs, jumping over debris and sliding under a truck. She noticed a group of Chitauri advancing on Natasha and Clint. She ran faster and as she did, she began to run on all fours, her form becoming bigger and tusks erupting from the sides of her cheeks. She barreled into the group, trampling them to death under her enormous elephant feet. Clint swept an alien off its feet and stabbed it in the eye before shooting the same arrow off into the distance. Nadia shrunk down back to her human form and grabbed her knives out again, using them to fight off the ever advancing Chitauri army. It seemed that for every one they killed, ten more came forward. Nadia was beginning to feel tired. How long had she been fighting? Slashing at her enemies and tearing them apart with her teeth and claws? She'd never used her powers this much and it was starting to take a toll on her body.

Natasha and Clint were both doing fine, each able to hold their own against the Chitauri. Steve dropped out of nowhere and struck out at the aliens, breaking their necks with the force of his blows and punches. Lightning struck a group that had previously been sneaking up on Nadia and Thor landed with a loud thud. He leaned against the car, looking pained for a moment before he staggered over to them.

For the first time in what felt like days, the area was clear of the aliens. Nadia ran her eyes over Steve, noticed that his lip was bleeding, but he otherwise looked okay. His eyes asked her a question and she nodded, letting him know that she was fine.

'What's the story upstairs?' Steve asked, looking at Thor and readjusting the strap on his shield. Nadia leaned against the hood of a car, trying to catch her breath.

'The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable.' The god replied. Nadia saw blood leaking from a wound in his side and went to check it, putting her knives away. Thor looked at her gratefully.

Through her earpiece, Nadia heard Tony's reply, 'Thor is right. We gotta deal with these guys.'

'How do we do this?' Natasha asked, her face blackened with soot and grime. Nadia guessed she probably looked the same. She patted Thor to let him know the wound was nothing serious as another wave of aliens flew overhead.

'As a team.' Steve replied.

'I have unfinished business with Loki.' Thor said. Clint looked over from where he was salvaging arrows from the dead.

'Yeah, well get in line.' He drawled.

'Save it. Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him these things could run wild.' Steve turned to the group, 'We got Stark up top, he's gonna need us to…'

The sound of an old engine made Steve stop and they all looked around to see that Bruce had arrived on a beat-up motorcycle. Nadia followed as they all walked over to meet him. She couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive as he approached, knowing now what he could turn into. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, her body twitching and eyes scanning around them for any oncoming threats.

'So, this all seems horrible.' Bruce quipped.

'I've seen worse.' Natasha replied.

Bruce appeared bashful. 'Sorry.'

'No, we could use a little worse.' She said, smiling a little.

'Stark, we got him,' Steve said, squinting from the heat coming from a nearby car fire.

'Banner?' Tony asked.

Steve nodded, even though Tony couldn't see him. 'Just like you said.'

'Then tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you.' Tony replied as he rounded the corner of a building, flying right for them. A huge leviathan came rumbling after him, clipping the side of a building, causing rubble and glass to fall onto the streets below.

Thor growled and turned his hammer over in his hand. Nadia looked up at Steve, not hiding the terror from her eyes as she took as nervous step backwards.

'I…I don't see how that's a party.' Natasha breathed, staring at the huge creature that barreled towards them. It kept getting closer and closer, drawing nearer to the ground and squashing cars and lampposts in its pursuit of Tony.

Bruce turned to look at them and then walked towards the monster. Steve stepped forwards a little.

'Doctor Banner,' he said, 'Now might be a really good time for you to get angry.'

'That's my secret Cap.' Bruce replied, smiling ruefully. 'I'm always angry.'

As he turned away from them, his body grew in the same way that Nadia had seen before. Muscles rippling and tearing away at the shirt he wore, skin turning green and hands forming huge fists. The Hulk turned and just as the giant worm was upon them, punched it in the face with immeasurable strength. The monster stopped in its tracks, its body forced upwards as the Hulk stopped its advance. The metal plates on the leviathan's back fell off, revealing weak spots. Nadia and Tony had the same idea.

'Hold on!' Tony called and fired a small explosive device at the creature. Nadia did the same, sending sharp spears of stone at the exposed flesh before ducking down beside Clint, who had taken shelter behind an overturned car. As Tony's bomb went off, bits of flesh and bone flew everywhere as the dead creature slammed to the ground, defeated and lifeless.

The Hulk roared his victory and the Chitauri all around them let out screams of anger and rage. Nadia stood up, her back facing the middle of the circle that had formed, drawing her knives. She knew the people behind her had her back, and her hands twitched around her knife handles as the power surging in her veins trickled to life once again. Natasha reloaded her guns, Tony landed behind her and Clint knocked another arrow on his bowstring.

The battle for New York was only just beginning.


	11. Chapter 11

**A.N – Part 2 of the Battle of New York. So sorry for the late update guys. Please leave a review if you enjoyed it! I'd love to hear some feedback.**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Eleven

'Guys?' Natasha said. Nadia turned towards her and followed the Agent's gaze. More of those huge leviathans were coming through the portal, along with more Chitauri soldiers. What they had just faced was child's play compared to what was coming towards them now. Nadia took a deep breath which rattled in her body and betrayed her fear.

'Call it, Captain.' Tony said through the helmet of his suit. Steve stepped forward, in his element. He was Captain America. He was used to being in the heat of battle. If anyone knew what to do, how to keep their cool, it was him. Even Tony, who deferred to no one, who always seemed so confident, was turning to him in this moment.

'Alright, listen up.' Steve said, his voice calm and clear. 'Until we can close that portal, our priority is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or your turn it to ash.'

Clint looked at Tony. 'Wanna give me a lift?'

Tony nodded his head once and walked over to the archer. 'Right. Better clench up, Legolas.' He grabbed the back of Clint's suit and flew upwards and out of sight.

'Thor, you've gotta try and bottleneck that portal, slow them down.' Steve said and Thor nodded, face determined. 'You've got the lightning, light the bastards up.'

Thor flew away as Steve turned to Nadia and Natasha. 'Us three, we stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here. And Hulk?'

The Hulk swung his massive head around to look at Steve. The Captain pointed towards the sky. 'Smash.' He ordered. The Hulk smiled and with a roar, launched himself up into the air, landing on the side of a building and beginning to smash the enemy to bits. Nadia looked up and saw that Thor was sending bolts of lightning towards the entrance of the portal, frying the aliens before they even had a chance to attack.

'You okay?' Nadia asked Steve, who nodded and smiled briefly before grabbing her arm.

'Get down!' he yelled, yanking her to the ground as a blast of energy shot right over their heads, a shot that could have killed Nadia.

'Thanks.' She said. Before Steve could say another word, more Chitauri soldiers were upon them and Nadia was thrown back into action. She alternated shifting into the shapes of animals and using her powers over the elements to fight. She sent miniature tornados towards the aliens to sweep them up and break their bones. She slashed their throats with her claws. She wasn't backing down.

A fire hydrant broke nearby as an alien blast hit it, and Nadia used the escaping water as a weapon, sweeping her arm out in a grand motion, encasing the aliens and then freezing them in a huge block of ice with a simple flick of her wrist. She used her knives to stab and slice at the aliens that got too close, even throwing one of her smaller knives at a Chitauri solider, grimacing when it landed where she'd aimed – his forehead.

The more tired she became, the more hits the Chitauri got in. She had scrapes on her hands and upper arms where the flesh was exposed. Her cheek was bleeding and her hair flew about, having totally escaped from her ponytail. She knew that the longer the battle went on, the less luck they were going to have.

Natasha and Steve were both getting tired too, Nadia could see that. Natasha was panting heavily and Steve was having a harder time of keeping track of where the enemies were. She had to admire the way he fought though. He used that shield like an extension of his arm, and Nadia was very thankful that they were on the same side. She wouldn't want to be fighting either of them.

She began to move away from them and fought further down the bridge, sinking some Chitauri into the concrete by changing the consistency of the road to clay, and then back again. She whipped water around and sliced the heads of the aliens. She stabbed them in the backs and carved them open, spilling their guts. She was getting used to this whole violence thing.

When she'd cleared her area, Nadia jogged back over to Natasha who was leaning against the hood of a taxi, a Chitauri spear in her hands. Steve stood next to her, his shield covered in black blood and grime.

'Cap, none of this is gonna mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal.' Natasha said, looking up at Stark Tower. The portal was still open and expelling more aliens out by the second.

'Our biggest guns couldn't touch it.' Nadia pointed out, panting with her hands on her hips.

'Well, maybe it's not about guns.' Natasha murmured thoughtfully.

'You wanna get up there, you're gonna need a ride.' Steve said, squinting up at the sky.

'I got a ride.' Natasha said, looking above them. Nadia heard the hovercrafts the aliens used to get around before she saw them. Natasha threw the spear to the side as she walked away from them. 'I could use a boost though.'

Steve readied his shield and looked apprehensive. Nadia stood at the ready too, prepared to catch Natasha if she missed and fell. 'Are you sure about this?' he asked.

Natasha nodded. 'Yeah, it's gonna be fun.'

Natasha sprinted at Steve, launched herself off the hood of the car and onto the top of the shield. Steve pushed her upwards and she soared, catching hold of a passing hovercraft. Natasha sped away.

A blast sped at them and Nadia ducked. There were more Chitauri on the bridge and she turned to Steve, turning her knife over in her hands.

'Here we go again.' She muttered before throwing her knife at the closest alien, then plucking it out from his chest as she ran past, not caring as she threw herself into the fight. Steve's fighting style was pretty similar to her own, and they worked well together. She bounced fireballs off his shield and he threw it at the Chitauri, distracting them while she stabbed them in the chests. Tony flew overhead and landed near them, joining the fight. He used his suit to send a ray of golden energy at Steve's shield, who used it like a weedwhacker to cut down the remaining aliens on the bridge. Tony took off soon after and Nadia skidded to a stop at Steve's side, her lip bleeding from being hit in the face with a spear.

'You good?' he asked. Nadia noticed that he didn't have a scratch on him yet, whereas she looked like a hedgehog had attacked her.

'Yeah. Let's go.' She said. Steve nodded and took off jogging, scanning for any hostiles. They jogged side by side, telling straggling civilians to go down to the basements of the nearest buildings or go down into the subways. Nadia couldn't get the smell of smoke out of her nose and what she knew to be burning flesh.

'Look out!'

Steve's warning came a second too late and a Chitauri backhanded her, sending her flying into the side of a building. Her head hit the wall and she slid to the ground, pain erupting in every nerve in her body. Through blurred eyes, she searched for Steve, wondering if he was okay. He was fighting the Chitauri, but it had him pinned to the ground, it's spear hovering inches above Steve's face, which was clenched in the effort it took to hold the creature at bay. Nadia felt a lump of fear in her chest and gathering what strength she had left, she picked herself up and stumbled over to the single alien, coming up behind it silently and as quickly as she could. Steve struck out then, breaking the creature's leg and she stabbed it in the neck. It went sprawling to the ground dead. Nadia helped Steve to his feet.

'Are you hurt?'

Nadia shook her head, her vision blurring slightly. She took a second to gather her scrambled brains together before answering. 'Doesn't matter. We have bigger things to worry about.'

Steve swallowed and nodded, not looking happy.

'Captain,' Clint's voice came through on their comms system, 'The bank on 42nd past Madison. They caught a lot of civilians there.'

'On it.' Steve replied. He looked down at Nadia, who rubbed her sore neck. 'You coming?'

'Right behind you, Cap.' She smiled at him and Steve grinned back before they headed off towards the bank. A police car was parked just outside it and officers in Kevlar vests shot at the approaching Chitauri as they tried to get the innocent captives out.

'You go in, I'll stay here to keep anymore coming after you. Go.' Nadia said, waving Steve inside the building. She turned and faced the oncoming Chitauri and took a breath. Raising her hands, the ground in front of them began to rumble, then rose up. A thick, tall stone wall erupting right out of the ground and protecting the entrance to the bank. One police officer, stared at her in shock and she sighed, too tired to be self-conscious.

An explosion shook the building and Nadia whirled around, worried. 'Steve!' she screamed and then grunted as an energy blast struck her in the side, just as another flash shot towards her, this time hitting her in the leg, which was not protected like her chest had been and left a large but shallow wound. She pressed a hand to it, dropping the rifle and falling to her knees in pain. Blinking tears from her eyes at the burning sensation coming from her thigh she looked around. Policemen and firemen were evacuating the people from the bank and she searched for Steve. He was climbing off a flattened car, his helmet missing, showing his sweat soaked blonde hair. His face was bruised and his bicep had a large cut that was soaking the sleeve of his suit in blood.

'Steve!' she called, her voice strained and weak. He turned towards the sound and she saw his eyes widen and his face pale. He ran over to her, helping to bring her to her feet and then helped sit her on the back of a car. His hands remained on her upper arms, standing very close to her.

'What happened?' he asked.

'Got shot.' She replied meekly hissing as he prodded her leg with his finger gently. 'You okay?'

'Yeah, I'm fine.' He said, grabbing what looked like a silk scarf from the car she was sitting on and tying it around Nadia's leg to stanch the flow of blood seeping from her wound. 'Don't worry about me.'

'Easier said than done.' Nadia quipped in reply before she could stop herself. She averted her gaze, looking around the streets in a moment of ceasefire. This area had been cleared of aliens for now but the city looked destroyed. There were fires raging, rubble, ash and dust everywhere, and to Nadia's horror, human bodies lay in the streets. A few stragglers hurried down into the subway, taking every opportunity to stare at the two Avengers.

A red and silver blur fell from the sky and crashed not far from the two. They looked at each other and then hurried over to look, Nadia walking a little slower than Steve, trying not to wince in pain every time she moved. It was Thor who had landed in a small crater in the middle of the street and even though he fell two hundred feet, he looked okay. Unfortunately, he brought more Chitauri with him. Nadia groaned and grabbed the knife from her boot, her only one left.

She did her best, her movements no longer fluid or graceful, but rather sloppy and vicious. The wound in her leg kept bleeding steadily and it hurt to walk. She was tired, injured and had faced death many times over in one day. Her anger and her will to live were the only things keeping her alive, coming in bursts of infrequent energy.

Steve dropped to the ground when a blast from an alien gun hit him in the stomach, and Nadia's heart stopped, her eyes widening in horror. Thor used his hammer to throw the Chitauri away from the group while Nadia knelt next to Steve, the pin in her leg forgotten. She picked up his shield and stood over him, protecting him while Thor fended off the oncoming Chitauri, using his hammer to throw a car towards them. After clearing the area, he held his hand out to Steve, who took it. Steve was panting, holding his front and squinting in pain.

'You ready for another bout?' Thor asked, concerned. Nadia joined the two men and handed Steve his shield back. She knew what it was like to get hit by one of those alien blasts – they hurt like a bitch.

'Why? You gettin' sleepy?' Steve asked. Nadia smiled, knowing his attempt at humor was an effort to lighten the mood. Thor held his hand out and his hammer came flying back into it. All of them were panting and injured and Nadia looked up at the portal, cursing the day Loki was born.

'I can close it! Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down!' Natasha said through the earpiece and Nadia breathed a sigh of relief.

'Do it!' Steve ordered.

'No, wait!' Tony shouted.

'Stark, these things are still coming!' Steve said.

'I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute.' Tony explained and Nadia slumped where she stood, wondering how much worse it could get. 'And I know just where to put it.'

Nadia ran a hand through her matted hair nervously as she realized what that meant.

'Stark…' Steve said slowly, 'You know that's a one-way trip.'

But Tony didn't answer them and Nadia looked up towards the sky. She could see the streak that was Tony and the missile, and she held her breath. She grabbed Steve's hand in her own but didn't look at him. If Tony missed, didn't get the missile away from the city…the thought was too horrible to bear. She'd seen the footage of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, had studied the effects of radiation to see if it had a link to her powers. The aftermath of a nuclear bomb was devastating.

The three of them watched as Tony guided the missile up the side of Stark Tower and towards the portal and then…they were gone.

Nadia let out the breath she had been holding, but kept her eyes on the sky, waiting to see Tony come back through the portal. She squeezed Steve's hand tighter and his fingers curled around her own. Nadia saw an explosion through the eye of the portal and knew that the missile had destroyed all the Chitauri armies on that end. She jumped when all around them the Chitauri began to drop to the ground and a leviathan fell on top of a building, belly up and lifeless. It seemed that they were all dependent on the mothership, and now that that was destroyed…

Tony still hadn't come back through. Steve looked at Thor and then, sighing, said, 'Close it.'

After a second, the beam of blue light that powered the opening to the portal was shut off and the portal began to close. Nadia kept her eyes trained on the sky and just as the portal shut, a figure fell. Tony.

'Son of a gun.' Steve muttered, grinning. They watched as Tony continued to fall and Nadia knew something was wrong.

'He's not slowing down.' Thor said, swinging his hammer to take off, but before he could, a green blur flew across the sky and caught Tony in mid-air. The Hulk landed on the side of a building before crashing to the city floor, Tony cradled in his arms.

Nadia let go of Steve's hand and raced over to them, hobbling on her injured leg with Steve and Thor in tow. The Hulk pushed Tony off him and Iron Man landed face down on the ground. Thor rushed over and pushed Tony onto his back, ripping off the Iron Man face mask. Nadia leaned down, placing her hands on Tony's chest and leaned her head in to hear if he was breathing. She sat up slowly, feeling tears prick at her eyes. The arc reactor in the suit wasn't glowing anymore.

The Hulk roared and Tony's eyes flew open. He gasped loudly and Nadia fell backwards onto her ass, blinking in shock. The arc reactor began to glow blue again.

'What the hell?' Tony asked, looking around at them all. 'What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me.'

Steve smiled and nodded, as if he didn't believe what he was about to say. 'We won.'

'Alright, yay! Hey. Alright. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just…take a day.' Tony turned to the Hulk, 'Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it.'

Nadia laughed at Tony's antics and before she could stop herself, kissed his cheek. He smiled weakly at her.

'We're not finished yet.' Thor reminded them and Tony nodded.

'And then shawarma after.'

* * *

They stood around in a half-circle, watching Loki drag himself painfully over to the steps. The god must have sensed eyes on him because he paused and then looked around. Clint drew his bow back, arrow aimed directly into the god's eye socket. The god sighed, bracing himself against the steps.

'If it's all the same to you,' he said, looking up at them all sheepishly, 'I'll have that drink now.'

The hulk growled and the Avengers took Loki into custody. The Battle for New York was over.


	12. Chapter 12

**A.N – So some more original stuff coming soon, which will focus on Nadia and Steve's growing relationship and their dynamic, also even some of Nadia's past. Let me know what you think so far. I can't improve without reviews so please leave one if you can!**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Twelve

After turning Loki over to SHIELD custody, the Avengers had gone to get something to eat at that Shawarma place Tony had mentioned. They'd had to wait for the Hulk to shrink back down into Doctor Banner again, and then find him clothes, but that hadn't taken as long as they'd thought. The food had been better than Steve expected, and he hadn't held back, tucking into the meal. Nadia had only picked at what was on her plate, looking paler by the second. The group hadn't really said all that much, not wanting to disturb the peace and quiet after all they had been through that day. The city was going into repair mode around them. Emergency services were carting the wounded and the dead off, volunteer groups put out fires and started retrieving people from subway stations. Soon, clean-up crews would start to sift through the rubble and dust that the city was blanketed in, and SHIELD would come in to gather up the Chitauri dead. The battle was over but normalcy wouldn't resume. The world would never be the same after this day.

After the meal was done and the group had had a little small talk, JARVIS had conveyed orders from Fury for them all to come in to get medically checked. Nadia had wanted to go back to work at Bellevue Hospital to help with the injured, but she'd fainted as soon as she started to walk. The doctors had assured Steve that they would look after her, and that he should get some rest. So, Steve had been patched up, showered and had fallen onto the bed eagerly, looking forward to a good, long sleep.

He'd woken up at noon the next day and after showering again, went to check on Nadia. As he made his way to the medical bay of SHIELD's building, his thoughts strayed and he couldn't get her out of his mind. She'd been amazing yesterday. He hadn't expected her powers to be of that magnitude, and seeing her transform into animals as easily as clicking her fingers had been a sight. Even in animal forms, her eyes remained the same stormy grey that he adored. What stuck with him the most was that despite her injuries, she had only wanted to know if he was okay. She'd held his hand as they waited to see if Tony could get rid of the missile, essentially waiting to see if they would live or die. Taking his hand in hers could have been her last act on this earth, and the fact make Steve giddy. He could still feel her warm hand in his, so tiny and soft compared to his. He smiled to himself.

Steve's chest felt warm whenever he thought about it. He was very attracted to Nadia and after almost dying in the battle yesterday, he felt like he shouldn't waste any more time beating around the bush. He was going to ask her out to dinner as soon as Loki was taken care of. Not even in Steve's wildest dreams could he have imagined meeting someone like her and she had something that Peggy never had – she understood what it was like to be different. She understood _him._

He entered the hospital room and looked at the beds. Nadia was sitting on one next to Thor, who was getting the bandage on his stomach changed. Nadia had butterfly bandages on her upper arms and her scalp. A gauze was tied around her wrist and there were a few scratches on her face. She was pale and looked like she hadn't slept all that much, but otherwise she looked okay. She'd showered and changed into ripped jeans and a green t-shirt that was way too big for her, and she wore brown ankle boots. She beamed at him as he came over. Bruce was sleeping in a bed at the end of the room.

'Hey.' She greeted and Steve returned her smile.

'Hey. All patched up?'

'Good as new.' Nadia assured. She was watching him carefully, and he guessed why.

'You know, we couldn't have done it without you yesterday. Having you there, using your powers…it was a big help.' He said, wanting to reassure her. 'They're really amazing gifts.'

Nadia blushed. 'Thanks.'

'You coming to see Loki off today?'

'Yeah, they'll be clearing us soon, and then we're all going.' She said. Steve hoped that she'd noticed he was wearing the jacket she'd picked out for him. It was by far his favourite.

'Can I give you a lift?' He asked and Nadia smiled.

'I'd like that.' She said. They grinned at each other.

A nurse came over to check Nadia over once more before declaring that she was to stay off her leg for the next few weeks as much as possible, before moving on to Bruce. They'd been worried she'd have a concussion as well, but she was lucky. They all had been.

Nadia followed Steve out of the hospital wing and out of the SHIELD base, carrying a brown leather jacket just like his with her. Her gait was slowed and she limped a little bit, but she didn't seem to be in too much discomfort. Steve had parked his Harley Davidson motorcycle in the underground parking lot. Nadia laughed when she saw it.

'That's…that's so cool.' She said, smiling like a child and shivering. She shrugged on her jacket. Steve swung his leg over the bike and put the key in the ignition.

'Well?' Steve smiled and Nadia got on behind him, her hands on his shoulders. Steve revved the engine and kicked the stand up. 'Ready?' he asked and Nadia laughed, hands still on his shoulders. He took off out of the parking lot. Nadia swore and wound her arms around his waist quickly as they merged out into traffic. Steve grinned and sighed at the feeling of her arms around his middle. He could feel her chest on his back and her thighs pressing into his hips.

He drove through the traffic easily, the wind ruffling his hair and Nadia pressing her chin into his shoulder. The streets weren't that busy, as most of the city was still in lockdown after the battle. There were a few police cars around but otherwise most of the traffic was people trying to get out of the city, or people coming in to check on loved ones. But right now, with Nadia holding onto him he felt at peace, contented.

'This is awesome!' she called over the sound of the traffic.

Steve grinned, turning left towards Central Park. Tony was already waiting, his dark red sports car at the curb and a silver briefcase in his hands. Steve pulled up and kicked the stand of the motorcycle down, shutting off the engine. Nadia got off the bike first and Steve followed suit, walking closely beside her. They went over to Tony, who nodded at them both in greeting, his sunglasses hiding the black eye he'd gotten yesterday.

Two black SHIELD cars pulled up soon after Steve and Nadia arrived. Clint, Natasha and Bruce exited one. Thor and Loki came from another. Loki's hands were bound and chained in front of him and a muzzle covered his mouth – Steve couldn't help but think how appropriate that was.

They all gathered together, greeting each other. Steve noticed the way Nadia raked her eyes over everyone one last time, checking to make sure they were all okay. Steve smirked.

Doctor Erik Selvig arrived in a van not long after, and from the back, pulled out a large cylindrical device with golden handles. Doctor Selvig looked pale and jumpy, but otherwise okay. Tony opened the case he was carrying and inside, nestled in foam, was the Tesseract. Steve stiffened, hands balling into fists in his pockets, glad to be seeing it go after all the death and destruction it had caused. He watched with a stony expression as it was placed inside the cylinder by Bruce. He felt Nadia slide her arm through his and she sent him a comforting look.

Thor clapped a hand on Selvig's shoulder with a grateful smile and took the cylinder from him. Loki was standing in front of Clint, who was staring at the god. Natasha whispered something in his ear, and Clint smiled darkly.

'Goodbye my friends. I hope I will be seeing you soon.' Thor said, shaking Steve's hand. Nadia had to hover in the air to press a kiss to Thor's cheek, and the god even blushed a little.

'Take care, Thor.' She said. Thor merely nodded towards Tony, who returned it with a smirk.

Thor walked over to Loki, the chain to the handcuffs looped in his belt, the hammer in one hand and the cylinder in the other. He offered one handle to Loki, who begrudgingly took it.

Thor nodded to them all once more and smiled before turning his side of the handle. A blue light enveloped the two brothers and they shot upwards, disappearing from Earth.

Steve walked over to Tony. 'I guess this is goodbye.'

'For now.' Tony said, shaking Steve's hand with a smirk. 'I'll be seeing you again soon, Capsicle.'

Steve smiled and rolled his eyes, releasing Tony's hand. Natasha had handed Bruce a duffle bag and Bruce now walked over to Tony. The two got into the expensive sports car. Nadia hugged Natasha goodbye and waved to Clint as the two spies climbed into one of the SHIELD cars.

Steve felt a little sad at the parting of the Avengers. He'd felt kinship amongst them, the same thing he'd felt whilst with the Howling Commandos. But he knew one day they'd see each other again. They'd defended the Earth, saved each other's lives and fought side by side. That kind of bond is formed quickly, but doesn't break easily.

Nadia appeared at his side with a sigh. 'Looks like it's just you and me, Cap.'

'Looks that way, ma'am.' Steve replied with a smirk, knowing what she was going to say.

'Don't call me that.' She said, and they turned, walking towards the motorcycle once again.

'So, what do we do now?' Steve asked as they both climbed onto the bike. Nadia checked her watch before winding her arms around his middle.

'Well, it's after one…you hungry?' She asked as Steve started the engine. He nodded.

'I could eat. In fact, I know this great diner.'

* * *

The next month was a whirlwind of activity.

Nadia had worked overtime for weeks to help all the sick and injured people who had been affected by the alien invasion, limping most of the time from her own injuries. She went from hospital to hospital, visiting various shelters and pop-up camps, offering free treatment to those in need. When she wasn't at the hospital, she'd been helping rescue crews and firemen get into some of the buildings that had been attacked, lifting rubble with her powers and putting out fires.

Steve had been busy too. He'd competed in a marathon to help raise funds to rebuild the destroyed buildings and homes affected by the alien attack. He'd even decided to aide in rebuilding frameworks for homes. Any way that he and Nadia could lend a hand, they did.

They'd kept up their usual routine as much as possible, meeting for coffee and the occasional meal as often as they could, but both Avengers had been so busy. What was worse was that since the invasion, the public eye was now on the both of them. Steve was the most eligible bachelor in the city and Nadia was one of the most in demand doctors in the state. People of various importance were looking to thank them, or blame them, for what they did in New York. Paparazzi often tried to follow them, but the Captain and the Doctor were both adept at escaping. Rumours had started floating around that Steve was dating some model (he'd never met her in his life) and a few magazines reported that Nadia was dating a fellow doctor, someone named Stephen Strange. Some of the rumours were more ridiculous that others, and Steve tried not to let them bother him. Requests for interviews flooded in daily. SHIELD did a good job of keeping most reporters at bay with official statements, but the public wanted more. They wanted to know more about the mysterious heroes who had saved them.

Steve held an invitation in his hand and he took a shaky breath. The mayor was holding a charity event to raise money for a children's home that had been affected by the invasion, but also to celebrate all that they had achieved in the weeks since the Battle of New York. He _especially_ wanted both Nadia and Steve to be there. Apparently, Tony had been invited too, but Steve had no idea if the billionaire would be going. He seemed to be much too busy these days, as he hadn't return any of Steve's calls yet.

Steve knew this was his chance. He'd been waiting weeks for the opportunity to ask Nadia out on a proper date and this was his opening. They'd both been far too preoccupied these last weeks, and he didn't know when he'd get another chance to do this. But now that the time had presented itself, Steve was more nervous than he'd ever been in his life. He'd never actually asked a girl on a date. Usually Bucky would do that and organise a double date, to which Steve would always get dragged along. This time, it was all on him.

He raised his hand to knock on her door, but it swung open before he got a chance. Nadia smirked at him.

'Were you ever going to knock, or were you just going to stand there all day?' she asked.

'How did you know I was there?' He asked her, walking into the apartment. Nadia shut the door behind him.

'Felt your breathing through the air currents.' She shrugged a shoulder like it was the most normal statement in the world. She was wearing pyjamas and her hair was a little messy, like she'd just gotten out of bed.

'Did I wake you?' Steve asked, feeling guilty.

'No, I've been up for a while. I just didn't feel like getting dressed yet.' She pointed to the invitation in his hand before crossing her arms. 'I see you got one too.'

'Yeah. Tony did too apparently.'

'How do you know that?' she asked, walking into the kitchen and taking the coffee pot out and pouring him a cup. 'I haven't heard from him in weeks.'

'Pepper called me.'

'Ah.' She handed him the mug of coffee and he gently blew on it before taking a long sip.

Steve shifted his feet nervously and cleared his throat, setting his cup on the bench. 'So, are you going to go?'

Nadia's shoulders dropped and she sighed. 'Well, I feel like I have to. If I don't, then it sends a bad message, as if I don't want to help clean up the mess we made in Manhattan. But I really don't want to spend a night behind hounded by the rich and elite and I most certainly don't want to go by myself. Are you going to go?'

'Uh well, I had planned to.' Steve picked up the cup again, just needing something to do with his hands. 'I was thinking, maybe we could go together?'

Nadia's eyebrows rose. 'Together?' she repeated.

'Yeah.'

'As in…a date _together_ or just as friends _together_?' She asked shrewdly. Steve smiled gently.

'Does it matter?'

'Yes. Because if we show up together the media will have a field day. They'll think we're dating or something.'

'And that'd be a bad thing?' Steve felt stung. Her face dropped and she realised she'd hurt his feelings.

'No, not at all, I just don't want them thinking that we're together when we're not.'

Steve felt like an idiot. 'Of course. You've already got someone to take, right? The invitation says plus-ones are allowed.'

'No, no one.' Nadia frowned at him. 'Why are you so upset?'

'Because I've never done this before. I'm…trying to ask you on a date and you're the most difficult dame sometimes.' Steve drawled. Nadia blinked, seemingly stumped.

'What?'

'I'm not very good at it, I'll admit. Bucky was always the ladies-man. But I was hoping you'd realise what I was asking without actually having to ask.' He frowned at how stupid that sounded and chuckled. 'That doesn't make any sense, does it?'

'You're…asking me to go to the mayor's charity event with you? On a date?'

'Yes. I am.'

'Okay.'

Steve shook his head. 'I beg your pardon?'

'Okay, I'll go with you.' She smiled. 'It'll be more fun with you anyway.'

'You'll really go with me? On a date?'

'Yeah, Steve, I'll go on a date with you.' She laughed at his expression, 'Why is that so surprising?'

'I didn't think you'd say yes.'

'You don't know me very well then.' She replied. She glanced at the clock and groaned. 'I have to go to work in an hour.' She grabbed Steve's hand and pulled him over to the door, opening it. 'Call me later?'

Steve nodded, 'Sure.'

Steve blinked as the door closed and he dragged his hand over the lower half of his face, trying to wipe the grin off his face.


	13. Chapter 13

**A.N – Their first date and to a charity event no less. Let's see how it goes, shall we? Please leave a review and let me know what you think so far.**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Thirteen

Steve rubbed his hands together, took a deep breath and then knocked on Nadia's door. If he'd been nervous asking her out on a date, he was twice as nervous now actually _taking_ her on the date. He hadn't felt this nervous running into HYDRA gunfire, but one woman had the ability to make his hands sweat and his knees wobble.

She called for him to come in and he let himself into her apartment. He didn't see her immediately and walked down the hall into the living room. She wasn't there either.

'Nadia?' he called.

He heard the sound of high heels on the wooden floor and he turned around to look in the direction of her bedroom. She wasn't looking at him as she was struggling to get her earring in, but Steve couldn't take his eyes off her. She was wearing a silver satin gown that shimmered every time she moved. It clung to her curves in a tasteful way, and there was a slit on the left side that ended just above her knee. Her hair was piled up on her head in a curly bun, leaving her neck and collarbone bare. She was beautiful.

'You look…wow.' Steve managed to choke out. Nadia blushed and smiled at him, finally securing her earring. She picked up her clutch and a sheer wrap embroidered with vines and leaves. She walked forward and took hold of his tie, standing incredibly close. She straightened it and then patted the sides of his jacket down.

'You look very handsome in a suit, Captain.' She said and Steve noticed her hands were still on his chest. He really hoped she couldn't feel his heart beating against his ribs. He stepped away and offered her his arm instead.

'Shall we?' he asked and she pulled her wrap on before looping her arm through his. They left her apartment and Steve heard the door lock behind them.

'What do you think it'll be like?' Steve asked when they reached the exit and he held the door open for her.

'Probably just like every other party, but with more expensive food.' She replied. 'I've been to a few of these.'

'Really?' Steve asked, walking to the curb and whistling for a cab. He hailed one down and it pulled over. He opened the cab door for Nadia.

'Yeah, some of my work colleagues come from wealthy backgrounds. But they're always so boring.' She replied, slipping into the back of the cab. He shut the door and walked around the other side, sliding into the other seat.

'Where to, sir?' the driver asked.

'Holly's Palace, please.' Steve said, putting his seatbelt on. Nadia frowned at him.

'I thought that the Mayor's Charity Gala was at the Met?' She asked. 'Why are we going to a restaurant?'

Steve smiled at her. 'This is a date, right? I have to do it properly.'

Nadia paused, staring at him for a moment and Steve panicked, thinking he'd done something wrong, that he had been too forward, but his fears dissolved when she said, 'I'm impressed, Captain.'

They sat in silence for a while, looking out the windows, but it wasn't uncomfortable, they had both spent time together in silence, and it'd never been awkward. They just had nothing to say and were enjoying being around one another. Sometimes that was enough. But perhaps that was wishful thinking and it really was awkward and Steve was messing this date up already. He told himself to stop it. If he kept thinking like this he'd be even more of a fumbling idiot around women than he already was.

'You look tired. Have you been sleeping okay?'

Steve jumped at her voice and cleared his throat, hoping his voice wouldn't come out as a squeak. 'Yeah, okay.'

Nadia smirked. 'You sure?'

'Well…the mattress is a little too soft but otherwise it's alright. I'm still getting used to everything.' Steve didn't see the point in adding that he had nightmares every night; she'd just worry about him.

'We're here kids.' The cab driver said. Steve pulled out his wallet to pay for the ride and the cabbie shook his head. 'No charge. Not for you two. After all you've done for the city, it's the least I can do.'

Steve blinked in surprise. 'Sir, I insist.'

'Well, I ain't taking it.'

'Steve, come on.' Nadia touched his forearm then turned to the cab driver, 'Thank you very much for your generosity, sir.'

The cab driver nodded at them as they got out. Steve slid out first then held out a hand to help Nadia out. She kept hold of his hand as the door was closed and the cab sped off. Steve had heard this was a good restaurant, but he didn't know that there would be a line to get in. He tried not to notice that people were pointing at them and lead Nadia towards the entrance. A woman with dark skin and wide smile greeted them from behind a seating podium.

'Do you have a reservation?' she asked, looking down at her calendar.

'Under the name, _Rogers_.' Steve nodded. Nadia was glancing around the inside of the restaurant and Steve could admit he was happy with his choice. The place had a classy feel, like it was timeless, with a crystal chandelier, red table cloths and candles as centrepieces. The inside was packed with people and waiters wove in and out of the tables, trays laden down with delicious looking food.

'Ah yes, table for two.' The woman said with another smile. She swept her hand out to the side and grabbed two menus. 'If you'll follow me.'

They followed behind the woman, who seated them at a table that was in the back, away from the windows and prying eyes. Steve pulled out Nadia's chair for her and she sat, sending him a smile that brightened the whole room. He sat down opposite her and the waitress handed them their menus and pulled out a notepad from her back pocket.

'Would you like something to drink for now?'

'I'll have a white wine, please.' Nadia said.

'Just water for me is fine.' Steve said and the waitress nodded, then walked off.

'Well, I have to say, Steve, you know how to impress a girl.' She said. 'Dinner in a beautiful restaurant and then going to a charity event all dressed up?'

'Do men not do this sort of thing anymore?' Steve asked, perusing the menu.

'Some. But chivalry has died since the forties, that's for sure.' Nadia slipped her wrap from her shoulders and sat back in her chair. 'I wouldn't know, though. I've never been asked out.'

'You're kidding.'

'Afraid not.' She replied.

'I always got dragged along on these god-awful dates with Bucky.'

'What would you do on a date in the forties? I'm curious.' A waitress arrived with their drinks and Nadia took a delicate sip of her wine.

Steve cleared his throat. 'Well, there was the cinema, carnivals, dinner. Dancing was by far the most popular.'

'Dancing?' Nadia asked, looking intrigued. 'Times really have changed.'

'People don't go dancing anymore?'

'Most men these days don't know how to dance.'

'I always thought it was something special.' He replied, 'Holding someone and dancing together, looking at each other. It always just seemed extremely intimate.'

'Seemed?' Nadia repeated and Steve found that he couldn't tear his eyes away from her stormy grey eyes. They seemed so intense and vibrant that he found himself wanting to capture them in a drawing. 'You never danced?'

'I was very short before the serum. Most girls didn't want to dance with a guy that could accidently step on.' Steve replied, saying the same thing to her that he'd said to Peggy.

'Well, they should learn to look past the end of their noses.' Nadia clicked her tongue.

'Well, look where I am now. On a date with the prettiest girl in New York.' Steve smiled at Nadia, meaning every word, and was pleased to see that she blushed. This night was certainly going better than he could have hoped.

* * *

After a wonderful meal and a lot of laughter, Nadia was in the back of another taxi, heading off to the Mayor's event. She was a little nervous to be in the public eye in such a blatant way, but the fact that she would be with Steve calmed her a little. She looked over at him, but he was busy watching the city fly past the window, and his hand was still curled over hers in the middle of the seat. Nadia had never been out with a man before, but she could easily say that this was the best date ever. He looked so handsome in his suit and she didn't know what cologne he wore, but it was addictive and so, so masculine.

The cab pulled up to the curb and there were camera flashes. Steve shot her a nervous smile and then opened the door. Steeling herself and taking a breath, Nadia scooted over and exited the same side of the cab as Steve had, taking his proffered hand. The camera flashes were blinding but she tried not to pay them any mind. Steve closed the door after she got out and she automatically looped her arm through his. Reporters were firing questions in rapid succession as they made their way towards the entrance of the museum.

'Captain! Captain! Is it true that you're dating Vittoria Josefson?'

'Doctor Paolera, how does it feel now that the entire world knows about your powers after being in the shadows for so long?

'Doctor Paolera, are you and Captain Rogers an item?'

'How long have you two been dating?'

'Just a moment of your time, Captain!'

'How does it feel being invited to the charity event that was needed because of the destruction the two of you caused during the battle of New York?'

Steve leaned down and whispered, 'Ignore it.'

Nadia nodded and smiled weakly at him. They climbed the steps to the entrance to the museum and the questions didn't stop until they were safely inside. The two followed the red carpet all the way into where the main party was. There was a live band, waiters in white jackets carrying trays of champagne, an open bar, and the cities elite dressed in their finest. The room was filled with civil chatter and Nadia saw some people from medical school around the room. A short man with an impressive moustache saw them and, with a tall woman with blonde hair so fair it was almost white, approached them.

'Captain Rogers!' The Mayor said with a beaming smile. Steve offered his free hand, his right, to the Mayor.

'Sir.' He replied with a respectful nod of his head. The Mayor turned to Nadia and she didn't miss the flash of emotion in his eyes. What it was, she couldn't say.

'Doctor Paolera. You're both so very welcome.' He took her left hand in his and inclined his head over it in an old-fashioned gesture. He turned back to the woman next to him, 'This is my wife, Clara.'

'A pleasure, Captain,' she nodded her head with a smile to each of them, 'Doctor.'

Nadia smiled in return, letting her gaze fall on the rest of the room. A lot of the occupants were watching them with wide eyes and whispering. Nadia felt Steve's arm pull her towards him slightly and she knew that he'd noticed it too.

'I want to thank you personally for what you both did for the city. We're in your debt.'

'It's what we do, sir.' Steve replied smoothly, no hint of arrogance in his voice.

'Please call me Michael.' He insisted. Nadia liked him; he was certainly nicer than some of the other city officials she'd met. 'And enjoy the night.'

Nadia smiled at him once more and Steve led her off to a nearby table and he grabbed two flutes of champagne for them. She smiled at him before taking a sip.

'Some party, huh?' Steve asked with a wink. She giggled.

'Except for the circus outside.'

'Yeah, that.' He sighed, 'I'm sort of used to that. My name was in the newspapers a fair bit in the war, but it was never quite like that. It seems that reporters have only gotten worse.'

'Unfortunately, it's something we'll have to deal with from now on. We're public figures after what we did.' Nadia added with a dark mutter, 'Not that I'll ever get used to it.'

Steve shrugged a shoulder. 'It could be worse. From what I've heard, Tony has been in the papers frequently.'

'He certainly has. I'm sure he could tell you a tale or two.'

Steve shook his head and faked a shudder of horror. 'No thank you.'

Nadia laughed and took another sip of champagne, feeling warm at the way he was looking at her. In an effort to change the subject she said, 'No matter how many of these I go to, I'll never get used to it all.'

'No?'

'I think I'll always be a foster kid. No roots, no family, no money. I don't mind that, but in this kind of crowd, people care more about your lineage and status more than your accomplishments.'

'What was it like, being a foster kid?' Steve asked gently, looking wary. That was something Nadia liked about Steve. He wanted to know everything about her, but didn't want to cross any lines. He was careful of her feelings.

Nadia could sum up the experience in one word, 'Lonely.'

'My father died when I was still a baby.' Steve replied. She inclined her head, listening. 'My mother raised me during the Depression. A single woman with no income is hard enough in any decade, even now, but to do it after the first World War was a feat in and of itself.' He swallowed thickly. 'She died just after I got out of high school.'

Nadia put her hand on his upper arm. 'I'm sorry.'

Steve shook his head and Nadia let her hand drop from his arm, feeling her hand tingle. Steve leaned against the table they were standing next to. 'Why don't we talk about something else?' he suggested.

'Yes.' She agreed, 'Why don't you tell me a story?'

'What kind of story?'

She raised a shoulder in a half shrug, 'Surprise me.

A few minutes later, Nadia and Steve were both laughing so hard and she had to hold onto Steve's forearm to stop herself from toppling over in her high heels. After they'd calmed down from a particularly funny story involving a home-made potato gun, Nadia took a long sip from her champagne. She was putting her glass down when she spied a man in a military uniform walking towards the two of them. She shuffled her feet, uneasy.

'Incoming.' She muttered.

'Captain Rogers.' The man said, holding a hand out. Steve looked around and took the man's hand, shaking it. 'General Talbot.'

'Sir.' Steve replied, ever the respectful soldier. 'This is my date, Doctor Nadia Paolera.'

'Yes,' General Talbot looked her up and down with a distasteful look, 'The enhanced.'

Nadia felt her cheeks warm up in embarrassment. Steve's jaw tensed. 'Is there something I can help you with, General?' he asked, politely but ever so coldly.

'Yes, actually, I thought I would come over before some of the reporters caught your scent and tried to harass you for exclusive interviews. I was wondering if you'd consider coming down to home base sometime. We could really use you to help inspire the men, some training sessions, even for some confidential missions. It'd really boost morale after everything that's happened.' The general's eyes flickered to Nadia ever so slightly at the last statement.

 _Use him?_ Nadia looked at Steve, who had raised an eyebrow. 'Thank you, sir, but I'll have to say no.'

General Talbot's smile faltered before he plastered it back on. 'It'd be a real help, son, from one soldier to another.'

'I'm afraid that my answer won't change, General. You see, I don't like being used.' His eyes had narrowed at the last bit and Nadia saw, for the first time, just how intimidating Steve could be. Sweet, fumbling, gentle Steve. She could definitely see how his comrades would respect him and his enemies fear him.

General Talbot's face flushed and Nadia looked down to hide her smirk. 'Now, Captain…'

Steve turned to her and with a dashing smile that made her heart melt, 'Would you like to dance, Doctor?'

Nadia placed her hand in his. 'After you, Captain.'

Steve led her away from General Talbot and onto the dance floor. His hand went around her waist to the small of her back and he held her right hand in his left. They just swayed to the song gently, enjoying the closeness.

'That was a little rude Steve.'

'I know.' He murmured back, his voice as low as hers, 'But he was rude to you first. Did you see the way he looked at you?'

She had noticed and she was really trying hard not to think about it. 'It doesn't matter, Steve.'

'It does matter. To me it does. He shouldn't have been so disrespectful.'

'He called me what I am. I am an enhanced.' She pointed out, and Steve shook his head.

'It was the way he said it, like it was a bad thing. Like you were a freak and you're not. You're amazing. It took so much for you to help us against the Chitauri and nobody seems to be able to see that. You risked being a social pariah to do that and people just want to throw it in your face.'

Nadia blushed deeply and couldn't look him in the eye anymore. 'Thanks.' She mumbled and then cleared her throat. 'I can't believe what he said about using you to help the army.'

'It's not the first time that's happened to me.' Steve sighed, his hand on her back warm and gentle. 'When you have power, people without it will want to seek you out, to use it to further their own agendas. That's why I only trust SHIELD. Not the army, not the government. SHIELD isn't just worried about America's interests, but global interests. They stop threats against human lives all over the world.'

'I thought you loved the army.' Nadia replied softly.

'I do. I always will, but that doesn't mean that I always approve of how things are done.'

Nadia nodded and they fell into silence. They were just looking at each other, swaying to the music and holding each other close. She remembered what Steve had said earlier about dancing like this being very intimate and at the time she hadn't known what he'd meant, but now she did. She felt warm all over and her heart was beating fast in her chest the longer she looked at him. The song had changed but they didn't separate, too lost in their own world to notice what was going on around them.

'You know, I have no idea how to dance.' Steve confessed suddenly. 'I'm amazed I haven't stood on your toes yet.'

Nadia smiled, 'You're doing fine, Captain.'

'Well, I'm a quick learner.'

They both grinned at each other and Nadia felt the hand that was on her waist pull her slightly closer to him. They were almost chest to chest and she couldn't concentrate on anything else but the man in front of her. The man that made her feel like she could do impossible things, that made her feel like she mattered and maybe most of all, the man who understood what it was like to be different.


	14. Chapter 14

**A.N – I'm uploading multiple chapters because I'm going away for two weeks, please enjoy these! I'd like to hear your opinions on what you think so far so please leave a review.**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Fourteen

'…reports that last night, Captain Steve Rogers was seen at the Mayor of New York's charity event, with none other than his fellow Avenger, Doctor Nadia Paolera. Or as the public knows her, the Nymph. The two make a very cute couple but we all want to know, did they just go together as Avengers, or was it a date? The two certainly look chummy enough, laughing over glasses of champagne in this picture. Diana what do you think?'

'Well, sources have confirmed that it definitely was a date and if you need evidence, just check out this sneaky snap that a viewer sent to us.' The two TV hostesses gasped, 'They went to dinner together before the Charity Gala.'

'Well, that settles it folks, you heard it here first. Captain America and the Nymph are officially an item.'

Nadia sighed, dropping her clipboard on the bench of the nurse's station. She rubbed her temples and then looked up. 'Keith, would you please turn that garbage off?' she asked, grabbing a pen from her coat pocket and clicking the pen to fill in the paperwork in front of her. The nurse nodded at her and shut the television off.

She'd had one hell of a day. Reporters had followed her to the hospital and were now camped outside, waiting for her to leave, and all morning she'd been asked by both patients, doctors and nurses alike, whether it was true that she and Steve were dating. She told them all that it was none of their business and she even had to threaten a patient with a colonoscopy if he didn't stop asking.

It's not that it wasn't true – she and Steve had been on a date the previous night. A wonderful, romantic date that she would be dreaming about for weeks. But what bothered her was that whatever was going on between the two of them was so incredibly public. She'd been in the shadows for so long and in less than three months she'd been thrust right into the limelight and everyone knew her name, her powers, her face. Now they wanted to know where she bought her clothes, what her makeup routine was, where she went, who she was dating and it was disorienting and annoying. She just wanted to enjoy the time she had with Steve in private, but Nadia knew that wasn't going to happen now.

'Someone is having a bad day.'

Nadia looked up and instantly felt better. Steve was smiling at her, holding a bouquet of lilies out to her. She gently took them.

'What are these for?'

'Can't a guy do something nice for his girl?' Steve shoved his hands in his pockets and Nadia blushed. She looked around to see if anybody nearby was listening and sighed with relief when the coast was clear.

'They're lovely. Thank you.'

'Long day?' Steve asked.

'You could say that, yeah. Lots of patients, lots of harassment.'

'Harassment?' Steve narrowed his eyes, 'Do I need to have a talk with somebody?'

'What? No, no, of course not.' She put a hand on his forearm to reassure him. 'Just people asking about you and me.'

'You too?' he groaned. She frowned and rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand. 'I've had people following me all day. I had to go around the block three times to shake the reporters tailing me.'

'We'll just have to be sneakier about this from now on.' She muttered. Steve raised an eyebrow.

'Oh? _"From now on?"_ Does that mean we're going out again?'

'Well…I just assumed after last night you'd want to.' She stammered. 'I mean, I had a great time and I thought you did too.'

'I did. And I was wondering if you wanted to get some dinner with me tonight.' Steve asked, blue eyes sparkling cheekily.

Nadia giggled at the look on his face and nodded. 'I'd love that. Let me just go and change.'

Steve nodded and she rushed off to her locker, changed out of her scrubs and into jeans, a white shirt and boots and rushed out to meet him again. She hadn't thought she could ever be this excited just to go to dinner with someone, but she was. Steve's company was infectious. It made her happy, being around him.

She left the women's locker room and made her way over to him, trying not to run because she was so eager to not only get out of this place, but to spend time with him. He took her bag from her and slung it over his own shoulder and then, in an overly exaggerated gesture, he held out his arm. 'Shall we?'

Nadia caught a few of the nurses watching the two of them and whispering. So, to get them out of there quickly, she slung her arm through his and followed him out of the side entrance. The sun was just going down, but was still bright and Nadia slipped her glasses off and replaced them with shades. Steve pulled out a pair of brown aviators from a pocket in his jacket and put them on. They walked hand in hand down the emergency carpark, Nadia cradling the flowers Steve had gotten in her other arm.

'Look! Over there!'

'There they are!'

'Hey!'

Nadia and Steve were blindsided by reporters and cameras began to flash as they took photos of the couple. Nadia brought the flowers up to hide her face and Steve's hand tightened around her own. They quickened their pace, ignoring the reporters, but they wouldn't back off. They kept firing questions off, some more than a little inappropriate.

'Just a few questions please, Captain?'

'Doctor, doctor is it true you're pregnant with Captain Roger's baby?'

'Would you please get in contact with my boss, Miss? She'd love an interview!'

'Where did you get those boots?'

'Are those flowers a present? Did you two have a fight?'

'Captain! Captain! Is it true you're secretly married?'

After four blocks of them following Nadia and Steve, she'd had enough. With a flick of her wrist, she liquefied the concrete on the sidewalk and the reporters sunk quickly with cries of outrage. Steve looked back at the noise and then at her.

'Was that you?'

'Maybe…are you mad?' she asked, biting her lip.

'Of course not.' Steve glanced behind them again then tugged on her hand, 'Come on, let's go before they pull themselves out.'

With a giggle, they set off down the street, jogging to get away from the reporters. When they were a safe distance away, they set their pace at a walk again. Their hands swung between them as they walked, and Nadia noticed how comfortable and natural it felt. His hands were warm and rough and they enveloped hers easily. The city was busy around them, the sidewalk bustling with people and the traffic was bumper to bumper. But to Nadia, there was no one else around. It was just her and Steve.

'So where do you want to eat?' Steve asked.

'I, um, I don't think it's a good idea for us to eat out.'

Steve's forehead creased in a frown. 'Why not?'

'With all these reporters following us around…it just feels…I don't want to be put on display, you know?' Nadia mumbled uncomfortably.

Steve nodded mutely, realizing she had a point. Their lives were now so public and their relationship was so new. Perhaps they should keep their heads down for a while, as they're still getting to know each other. 'So, what would you like to do instead?'

'Well, it's been a while since we had one of our movie nights. Why don't we go to my place? I'll cook something, we can watch a movie? I think it's time for you to be introduced to something revolutionary.'

'Which is?' Steve asked, looking amused.

'Harry Potter.' Nadia replied seriously.

'That's on my list, actually.'

'Excellent.'

'But you've been working all day and we were out pretty late last night.' Steve pointed out, 'Sure you want to cook?'

'Take out?' Nadia suggested.

'I haven't eaten Thai yet.'

'Well, that settles that then.' Nadia said. Steve smiled down at her and then let go of her hand, instead, wrapping his long, muscled arm around her, pulling Nadia into his side. She immediately noticed that she fit there perfectly. She could smell his aftershave and it was intoxicating. He was wearing the brown jacket again and she snuggled into his side, sighing in content.

'What's the sigh for?' Steve asked.

'I'm just happy.' Nadia replied honestly. 'I've never been comfortable around other people and you make me feel like I can be myself.'

'Because of your powers?'

She nodded. 'I first noticed I was different when I was four. It seemed completely normal to me to get animals to do tricks for me with no training, and it was normal that whenever I cried or screamed, glass would break. It's why I got shuffled around so much. My foster parents would see something they couldn't believe and would send me back. As I got older, my powers got stronger, but easier to control. My foster siblings thought I was a freak, a child of the devil and wouldn't play with me. They would throw rocks at me and push me around. Doesn't make for a pleasant childhood.'

'I know what you mean.' Steve said, 'I was kicked and pushed around all my life.'

'And knowing you, you never ran away.'

'Why would I do that?'

'Self-preservation, maybe?'

'I don't know what that is.'

'Of course you don't.' Nadia rolled her eyes. 'There's nothing wrong with running, you know.'

'People tried to tell me my whole life that I wasn't going to amount to anything.' Steve replied, opening the apartment building door for Nadia. 'So I pushed back and told them, _Yes I will._ I proved them wrong.'

'Ah I see.' Nadia said, 'It's not just that you're too noble to run away from a fight, you're too stubborn to run away from a fight.'

'Exactly.'

Nadia laughed and let them into her apartment, still giggling. 'I think you're going to like Harry Potter. The books are amazing.'

'So…they made movies based off books?'

'Yeah. They do it all the time.' Nadia swapped her sunglasses for her regular ones.

'Perhaps I should read the books first?' Steve suggested, shrugging out of his jacket.

'Oh yeah,' a voice from the corner of the room, 'Definitely read the books. They're always better than the movie.'

Steve whipped around and immediately shoved Nadia behind him, who at the same time, summoned a rock from a nearby table to her hand, ready to launch it at the intruder. They both stared as Natasha stepped forward, arms crossed and smirking. She was holding a magazine in her hand, which she threw down on the coffee table.

'You two look cute together.' She said. Nadia let the rock return to its former place and stepped forward, looking at the cover. It was a picture of the two of them at the charity event the previous night, walking arm in arm.

'What are you doing here, Natasha?' Nadia asked, 'Not that I'm not happy to see you, it's just you lurking in the corner over there is creepy.'

'How did you get in here?' Steve cut in.

'It'd take more than a locked door to keep me out.' Natasha replied, sitting down on the couch. 'And I'm here, because Fury sent me.'

'What does Fury want?' Nadia felt nervous suddenly.

'We received intelligence that a known arms dealer has gotten his hands on an atomic bomb and that he's planning to sell it to a terrorist organization.'

Nadia felt her face drain of blood in horror. 'An atomic bomb?'

'That's bad, I assume.' Steve crossed his arms.

'Very bad.' Natasha said, 'And Fury wants you to come in.'

Nadia felt a rush of anger. 'He does know we're not agents, right? We aren't at his beck and call. I was okay with helping the Avengers defend New York, and now he wants us to go on field missions?'

'You don't want to help?' Steve asked her.

'I just don't know what I can do.' She shrugged. 'This is a job for spies and soldiers, not doctors.'

'You are a soldier now.'

'Because I fought in one battle?'

'Sometimes one is enough.'

'Steve, I'm not like you, I'm not brave. I can't just throw myself into battle. '

'I'm not asking you to go to battle.' Steve said, taking a step closer and gripping her upper arms. 'I'm going and I'm asking you if you'll have my back. You're the best person to do that.'

Nadia took a deep breath and licked her lips. She was nervous about facing another dangerous situation but the thought of Steve going into this fight without her terrified her more. So she nodded her head and said, 'Okay.'


	15. Chapter 15

**A.N – Please leave a review and let me know what you think!**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Fifteen

'You okay?' Steve asked, perhaps for the sixth time. He knew he was being annoying, but he wanted Nadia to be okay. He knew the only reason she came along was to make sure that he would be okay, but he was glad she was there nonetheless. She gave him strength. She thought that she wasn't brave, but she was. She might not jump into battle as easily as he did, but she did it every day, helping people in the hospital and right now, having his back on this mission.

'I'm okay. Let's just get this over with.' She replied pulling on her gloves. 'I have a girl coming in to the hospital tomorrow for her chemotherapy. I promised her I'd watch the latest episode of the Vampire Diaries with her.'

'Do you always get involved like that?'

'You have to build connections. My patients need to trust me for me to help them. Sort of like soldiers need to trust each other to complete a mission.'

Steve smiled at the comparison. 'Okay, let's get going.'

They turned towards the other group, all dressed in black SHIELD uniforms and talking in hushed voiced. 'So, what's the plan?' Nadia asked.

Natasha stepped forward, laying a blueprint on the table. 'The bomb is being held in a cellar. There's at least twenty hostiles, all armed. We have three points of access. The front door, the loading dock and the roof. The problem is, they have a security system that's imbedded in the ventilation system. To turn it off, we have to be at that point.'

'Wouldn't be the first time we crawled in the vents.' One of the agents said. Natasha shook her head, and pointed to the vents again. Steve frowned.

'You'd have to be a rat to get in there.' He said and then the lightbulb went off and he turned to Nadia at the same time the rest of them did. She sighed.

'Great.' She groaned then directed her question at Natasha, 'What do I have to do?'

'Agent Hill will guide you through the vents while we wait at the loading dock. It's the best way to get in.'

'We should split into two teams.' Steve said, studying the blueprints. 'A group of six comes down from the roof, clearing the floors while the rest of us flood the dock. Nadia will disable the security system and then join us on the bottom floor. We take out the men, secure the bomb and get the hell out.'

'Alright. You all heard the Captain. Let's move out.' Natasha said. Nadia sighed and snatched an earpiece off the nearby table. She tapped it twice.

'Testing.' She said, 'Agent Hill, you there?'

' _Right here, Nymph, reading you loud and clear._ '

Steve caught Nadia's arm and everything he wanted to say slipped out of his mind and he could only look at her. He wanted her there, so that she can help and he could keep an eye on her, but if anything happened to her, he'd never forgive himself.

'Be careful, okay?' he murmured. She nodded, smiling softly.

'You too, Captain.'

'Yes ma'am.'

She pursed her lips and said nothing, but he knew what she was thinking anyway and couldn't help but chuckle as she hopped out of the van and as she dropped, shrunk down into the form of a domestic cat and landed on four paws then ran off behind the building. As soon as she was out of sight, Steve slung his shield on his arm, the weight familiar and he sighed. The suit was still a little tight for his liking but it would have to do.

'So, you and the doc, huh?' Natasha asked, strapping her guns in place. She tried to sound innocent, but Steve could tell she was fishing for information.

'What about us, Romanoff?'

'It's good. You both deserve to be happy.'

'What do you mean?'

'Well, you were stuck in ice for seventy years and she grew up in the foster system with virtually no friends and no family all of her life. Anyone with eyes can see that she lights up around you. You're good for each other.'

'She's a great dame.' Steve hesitated before adding, 'I'm not sure I deserve her.'

Natasha rolled her eyes. 'Oh please. Don't give me that crap. Now let's go get this over with.'

Steve just nodded and rolled his shoulders. They stepped out of the van and split into two teams. Steve and Natasha lead the ground team as the others made their way up to the roof. They swept up the alley as silent as ghosts and made it around the back of the building. A large docking entrance was open, with two men standing guard with automatic guns. Natasha looked at Steve and he nodded once. He took a breath and then stepped out, letting his shield fly, knocking them both in the heads simultaneously. He caught the shield as it came flying back, and Natasha caught the two of them before they hit the ground, lowering them gently so they didn't make a sound.

' _Okay, Nymph, squeak once for yes, twice for no. Do you copy_?' Agent Hill's voice came through on their comms system and Steve looked around the docking bay. It was empty aside from a large moving truck.

There was a single squeak over the comms and Steve's lip twitched in a smile.

' _You'll have to go straight for another two feet, then take a right_.'

Squeak.

Steve and his group advanced, sweeping through the docking system. He pressed a hand to his earpiece.

'Gordon, what's your location?' he asked. Gordon was the agent leading the roof assault team.

' _We've cleared the top ten floors. It looks like they're all holed up in the cellar with the bomb_.' Gordon replied. ' _We can't go any further until the security system is down_.'

'Did you hear that Doc?' Natasha said. There was another squeak.

'So, we just wait?'

'It's up to Nadia now.' She replied.

Steve felt itchy. He hated just waiting and as the moments ticked by, listening to Agent Hill give Nadia directions.

' _Okay, so you'll want to cut the wire with double bondage and_ – "

Two squeaks followed and Steve could see Nadia's confused face in his mind's eye. She could perform surgery, put people's bodies back together, but when it came to machines, she was as clueless as he was.

' _The yellow wire_.' Agent Hill clarified. There was a pause and then, 'You're clear. Security system is down.'

'Okay go.' Steve ordered.

He yanked the door open and the gunfire started immediately. Steve raised his shield and advanced forward, letting his training and instincts take over. Being in battle isn't something that anybody ever got used to, but it was something Steve knew how to navigate. He felt the familiar rush of adrenalin, the rush of blood in his ears and before he knew it, he was in the cellar, facing twelve armed men with assault rifles. The rest of his team was still in the hallway and Steve would have to face this group alone.

He stepped forward and froze when a body dropped from the vents, landing on two of the men facing Steve. Nadia rolled to her feet, withdrew her daggers and slashed at the oncoming people. Steve jumped into the fight and he stood back to back with Nadia. They took the oncoming men down quickly and efficiently. They stood panting and with a glance at each other, went over to the crate. Steve broke the lock with his shield and lifted the lid up. Inside, sat a bomb.

Nadia sighed, rubbing her eyes tiredly. Steve turned to her.

'You okay?'

'Yeah.' She said.

Steve nodded and pressed a hand to his earpiece. 'Director Fury? We have the bomb. Send in your team for evac.'

Nadia put her hands on her hips, 'Can we go home now?'

Steve put an arm around her, pressing a gentle kiss to her hairline. 'Yes. We can go home now.'

* * *

After their mission, Nadia and Steve had gone back to his apartment. They'd curled up on his bed with a blanket and watched reruns of friends until they'd both fallen asleep. They'd never slept in the same bed before but it was oddly comfortable and at the time, they didn't mind. Steve had been aware of her next to him as he'd slept, and even though he felt calm around her, that didn't stop the nightmares.

They always came. Every night since he'd woken up from the ice, he relived the worst moments of the war. Tonight was no different.

 _He could see Bucky, hanging onto the railing, the train they were on moving past quickly, his surroundings a white blur. Bucky's eyes were wide and terrified as he reached for Steve's hand._

'No…'

 _Steve reached and reached, but couldn't get to Bucky._

'No…'

 _Bucky slipped and at that moment, Steve's eyes met Bucky's and even though they both knew what was about to happen, they couldn't believe it. Bucky screamed as he fell and Steve cried out, still reaching for his friend, even though there was nothing he could do._

'No…no…no…'

'Steve…Steve wake up! Steve!'

Steve jerked upwards and gasped for air. His hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat and his chest heaved. He looked around the room, unfamiliar with his surroundings for a moment until he looked over and saw her face. Nadia's grey eyes were filled with concern and her long brown hair was mussed up. She had a hand on his chest and the other was against his cheek.

'Nadia?'

'Yeah,' she replied, 'Yeah, Steve it's me.'

'Oh my god.' He slumped forwards, putting his face in his hands. She rubbed his back, making soothing noises. 'I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.'

She didn't say anything, just kept rubbing his back. She scooted closer and put an arm around his shoulder. To his embarrassment, he felt the tears rising. He tried to stop them, but they just fell.

'It's my fault.' He gasped out, sitting up straight. 'It's all my fault.'

'What is?' her voice was gentle.

'Bucky. It's my fault! I killed him. I let him die.'

'What?' She gasped, 'No, Steve. No.'

'I was right there, I c-couldn't reach him. I could have s-saved him but I didn't and he… and he just f-fell.'

'That's not your fault, hon.'

'It is. It's my fault. I should have saved him.'

'You tried.' She brushed the hair from his forehead.

'He was my brother and I let him die.'

'He fell.' Nadia said and then sighed. She shifted her weight and turned Steve's chin so he had to look at her. 'Bucky _fell_. You did not push him. You did not drop him. You tried to save him, you tried everything you could but things don't always work out the way we want them to. And if the roles were reversed, if _you_ were the one who fell from that train, would you want him to blame himself?'

Steve swallowed thickly. 'No.'

'It's okay to miss him, but don't torture yourself. You don't deserve that.' Nadia whispered, wiping his wet cheeks with her thumbs. Steve took a steadying breath and his chest rattled with emotion. Nadia pulled him into a hug, stroking his hair soothingly and making shushing sounds.

'I'm sorry.' He mumbled into her shoulder.

'For what?' she mumbled, confused.

'All of this. I didn't want you to see me like this.'

'Like what?'

'Weak.'

'Steve you're not weak. It's okay.' He pulled away, not believing her, thinking she was just being nice but she grabbed his hand tightly. 'No, really. Don't apologize for feeling, for having emotions. It's okay. I just want you to be honest with me, alright?'

Steve nodded and Nadia stared at him for a moment before getting off the bed and disappearing into the hall. He heard the water running and then shut off, before she came back with a glass of water and a washcloth. She handed him the glass and he downed the whole thing in a few gulps and then she handed him the washcloth. He rubbed it over his face, removing the sweat and then handed it back to her. She tossed it in the sink in the bathroom and then sat on the bed next to him.

'Thanks. For not thinking I'm…'

'None of that now.' Nadia said, 'Come on. Let's go back to sleep.'

Steve nodded and lay back down. Nadia rearranged the blanket over them and lay on her side facing Steve, he did the same, taking her hand and pressing a kiss to her palm.

'I'm sorry I woke you up.'

'I'm not.' She murmured sleepily, eyes drooping. 'We have to stick together, you and me.'

'Why's that?'

'Because we need each other.'

Steve smiled and held her hand a little tighter, allowing himself to relax and go to sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

**A.N – I feel like the movies don't show how Bucky's death really effected Steve so I wanted to show that. Because they were so close and to lose someone like that is traumatic. Steve and Nadia fit together because they're both outsiders and that's why they need each other and can lean on each other for support. Please leave a review of what you think.**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Sixteen

Snow had started to fall as November rolled around. After that night, he and Nadia would spend time together whenever they could, but her job at the hospital kept her busy and Steve had been doing the odd mission for SHIELD. Not as an agent, but as an Avenger. He found that he enjoyed it, serving others and being useful. But nothing made him feel more like himself, than being around Nadia. She was like sunshine, she made everything okay. He loved her kindness and her spirit. He'd seen a lot of disturbing things during the war, but she made him forget all of that, not to mention she'd been there for him during a time when he was vulnerable and she had just held him. When he was around her, he was just an ordinary man, spending time with a wonderful dame.

'You ready to go?' Nadia asked, pulling on a scarf and snapping Steve out of his reverie.

'Yeah, let's go.' He said, taking her hand.

They left the apartment and stepped out into the chilly winter air. She shivered and Steve pulled her closer to him. She sighed and leaned her head against his chest for a moment and Steve smiled.

'How was your mission?' she asked.

'Uneventful, thankfully. Went exactly as planned.'

'You've been going on a lot of them lately. I've missed you.' She said with a slightly blush.

'I'm needed.'

'Steve, I'm not going to lie. You going on so many missions…it's worrying me.'

He felt a rush of affection for her. 'I'm a big boy, doll, I can look after myself.' He said, giving her a squeeze.

'I know, I just…I'm worried that you might be trying to compensate for lost time by jumping back in the fold, following orders.'

'But SHEILD isn't the army and this isn't 1945.'

'I know that…just…be careful.'

'I've always loved serving, doll. It's what I'm meant to do.' Steve replied, sighing. He knew that he needed to build a life that didn't revolve around violence and battles and death. But he couldn't just give it up cold turkey. 'Besides, I finally feel like myself. That I'm doing some good. Not to mention, I have you.'

'Yeah, that's true.' She admitted with a little blush. 'Just be careful okay? I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt.'

Steve rubbed her upper arm comfortingly and she tightened her hold around his middle. Nadia let the issue drop, but he could tell that she wouldn't stop worrying. He liked having someone worry about him, but today wasn't the day for sad thoughts. They were going ice skating in the park, and it was a beautiful day. Nadia had never been skating and Steve hadn't gone since before the serum, but it's something that they both wanted to try again.

They came in view of the lake and stopped abruptly. There was a crowd around the outside of the lake and Steve could see why. It was definitely not frozen. Clumps of ice floated in the water but it wasn't solid. There was no way to skate on it and everyone around the lake looked as disappointed as Steve felt.

'Another day, then.' He sighed heavily. Nadia dropped her skates and walked towards the very edge of the lake. Crouching down, she put her hand on the water and it rippled around her. Ice spread out from her hand and crackled along the surface. The air around them got colder and the lake froze over. Children gasped in delight and parents stared in shock. Nadia stood up, brushing ice from her hand and smiled at Steve, who gaped at her.

'I don't know if I'll ever get used to that.' He shook his head and she smiled. They dropped to the ground and put their skates on. He looked around at all the children shrieking and laughing with joy. He nudged her with his elbow. 'You did that, you know. Made all those kids happy.'

'I did it for you. Making the kids happy is a bonus.' She said, pulling her laces tightly. She shuffled over to the ice and stood up wobbling a little and bending her knees. Steve followed her lead and grabbed her hands in both of his. He found his balance and rhythm a lot easier than she did, and she leaned against him, letting him guide her around the ice.

'Okay…now just move your feet in little motions.'

'I'm trying…' She had a huge grin on her face. Steve chuckled.

'It's like rollerblading.'

'I've never done that before either.' She said shuffling her feet awkwardly. 'This is so annoying. I have an MD, a photographic memory and taught myself how to knit in less than an hour. I just can't seem to do this.'

'You're a brain, doll, not a jock.'

'What does that mean?'

'You learn through theory and books. I learn through doing.'

Nadia slipped and Steve caught her arms, keeping her upright. She wobbled again and Steve laughed at her. Two little girls skated past them easily, laughing at the two adults who were struggling to stay upright. Steve saw the child hurtling towards them and before he could move, the kid slammed into Nadia, knocking her into Steve's arms and thus, sending him sprawling on the ice. Nadia landed on his chest and the air was knocked from his lungs. They slid on the smooth, cold ice and then came to a stop. Nadia looked at Steve and she started laughing. Before he could help it, he started laughing too.

Nadia sat back on her haunches and Steve propped himself up on his elbows. She glanced around, still laughing and Steve thought that he'd never seen her look more beautiful. She was smiling brightly, her eyes shining, her nose pink from the cold. He could look at her all day.

'HELP! Somebody please HELP!'

Steve sat upright and looked over. A small group was forming on the other side of the lake. Nadia go to her feet unsteadily and after wobbling on her skates, managed to push her way over to the group. Steve was right behind her.

'I'm a doctor! Let me through!' she called and people stepped aside and she slid on her knees to the side of a boy who was jerking violently on the ground. Nadia looked up at the woman who was holding the boy's hand, his mother, probably.

'What happened?' Nadia asked.

'I don't know. One minute he was fine and the next he was thrashing around.'

'Did he hit his head?'

'No.'

'Is he epileptic?'

'Yes…but he hasn't had an attack in months!' his mother sobbed, holding his hand. Nadia nodded and took of her scarf, bunching it up.

'Okay, we have to roll him on his side to keep his airway open.' She turned to the crowd around them, 'Somebody call 911!'

Nadia gripped either side of the boy's head and placed her scarf underneath it to stop him from banging his head on the hard ice. Steve stood, unsure what to do. He didn't want to get in the way, but he wanted to help. Nadia turned to him.

'Steve, go flag down the paramedics. You have to lead them here. This boy needs the hospital.'

Steve nodded and took off, pulling his skates off his feet as he went. He ran through the park, listening to the sound of the approaching ambulances. He saw one pull up and waved his arms to get their attention. Three paramedics jumped out the back, carrying bags and a stretcher between them.

'Where's the patient?' one asked and Steve gestured for them to follow him. They jogged behind him and soon they were near the lake. Nadia was supporting the boy's head to keep him from thrashing around, making soothing noises. She'd slipped her skates off her feet and they were lying next to her.

'Boy, ten years old, having an epileptic fit. He needs the hospital now.' Nadia said, going into doctor mode. The paramedics nodded and knelt beside the boy. Just as they got there, the boy's chest stopped rising and falling. He'd stopped breathing.

'He's stopped breathing.' She pressed two fingers to the side of the boy's neck. 'No pulse. Starting compressions.' Nadia said, and she began to push on his chest whilst the boy's mother watched on with tears rolling down her face in her helplessness. The paramedics were getting IV's into the kid's arms and checking his pupils.

'Come on kid.' Steve muttered, eyes on the small boy. He reminded Steve of himself when he was young. Thin, frail, but wanting to live and experience life. It would be more than a shame if the boy didn't survive.

Suddenly the boy gasped and Nadia checked his pulse. 'We got a pulse! This kid needs the hospital now!'

The paramedics, along with Steve, gently moved the boy onto the stretcher and Nadia strapped him in. They prepared to lift him up and get him to the ambulance. One of the medics turned towards her.

'Hey…aren't you that doctor from the news? The one who fought in the battle of New York?'

'Yes.' She replied shortly. Steve narrowed his eyes when the mother's head snapped up and stared at Nadia. She stumbled to her feet, then reached over and pushed Nadia away, knocking the doctor onto her ass.

'Get away from him!' she screeched. 'You…you freak! Don't touch my son! You've been touched by the devil! Get away! Get away!'

Steve took a shaking breath as he was filled with rage. Nadia had helped her son, had only been doing her job and she was treated like this?

He walked over to his girlfriend and helped her stand. The front of her pants around her knees were wet from kneeling on the ice and she seemed dumbstruck. Her eyes were wide and her face pale as she stared at the woman, who was going red in the face in outrage.

'Come on, doll. Let's go.' Steve murmured to her, taking her hand. Nadia didn't say anything, just lowered her gaze and let Steve lead her away from the lake, letting the paramedics take over from where she'd left off. Neither of them said anything as they left the park. The wind had picked up and it sent their hair flying in all directions, making the cold weather even worse.

'Nadia…doll, are you okay?'

She sniffed and then sighed. 'Yeah…I guess I should have expected something like this to happen.'

'She shouldn't have spoken to you like that.'

'But she did. She hated me because of what I am.'

'Nadia, listen to me.' Steve stopped abruptly and turned her to face him. 'You are more than the sum of your powers. You are smart. You are kind. You are loyal. That woman will never know any of that because she made a snap judgement out of fear and anger. So don't think on it anymore because it's just not worth it.'

She swallowed thickly then nodded. Steve pulled her into his chest, holding her close and feeling at a loss. He couldn't do anything to stop people from being afraid of her and it wasn't fair. People had been treating her that way all her life. She didn't deserve that. All she had ever done was help others and put others before herself. People should think she's a hero, a miracle, not a freak.

He kept his arm around her as they continued to walk back to his apartment. She would sniffle every now and again, but she didn't cry. Steve wished that she would, just so she wouldn't bottle her feelings up.

'You know…I got an email from General Talbot.' Steve began, hoping to change the subject. Nadia glanced up at him.

'Oh?'

'He told me about this program, helping refugees at the border of Syria? It runs for about four weeks and they need some extra boots on the ground. Medics too. I was wondering…maybe we should both go together? I know it's a warzone and it's dangerous, but we could both do with a change of scenery and we'd both be helping people who really need it. We could look out for each other as well.'

Nadia bit her lip. 'You think this is a good idea?'

'Yeah…I can't just sit around waiting for Fury to send me on another mission. You have your job at the hospital and I just need to feel useful.' It was the truth. Steve felt that he was letting Nadia down by not doing anything between missions. He was going stir crazy sitting in his apartment all day, waiting to see her.

'And you want me to go with you?'

'Yeah, I do.'

'Can I think about it?'

Steve smiled, knowing what her answer would be. 'Of course.'


	17. Chapter 17

**A.N – So sorry I've been gone for so long. I went on holiday and had to organise all my things for university so I haven't had a lot of time for writing. I'll try and update regularly from now on and reviews would be a great motivator!**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Seventeen

Nadia had eventually agreed to go to Syria with Steve, and it was easily one of the best decisions she ever made. She had been in high demand in the medical tent, treating both soldiers and refugees alike. And even though she'd barely got any sleep, the food was terrible and the heat was sometimes unbearable, she felt good about being there. There, nobody cared about her powers or where she came from or the fact she had been a foster kid. There, she was a doctor and she was helping people and that's all that mattered, even if she used her powers to do it. Steve was out most of the time, helping the other soldiers. He'd been given a uniform and Nadia had smiled when she first saw him in the mottled greens and camel boots. He'd been beaming from ear to ear. She worried about him when he left with the other soldiers, but he'd always come back to her. He was different around the troops than around civilians. He seemed freer, less severe. Nadia liked seeing him so happy.

They'd been there for three weeks when they got the news that Tony's house had been blown up. Worried and distracted, they'd both left a week early to go to L.A, where Tony was safe and sound. Nadia had hit him in the shoulder, telling him to go to hell for scaring her like that, and then had hugged him tightly. Steve, still in his army uniform and a little sunburnt, had just shaken his head after Tony told them what happened. But Tony, ever the one to keep people off balance and surprised, asked Nadia to help him with something. She'd thought he was going to ask her for a recommendation for a good therapist, but no. Instead, he wanted surgery to remove the shrapnel from his body and thus, remove his arc reactor. Nadia, had, of course, agreed and set up the operation immediately. She'd assisted in the surgery, giving Pepper updates every hour. It had been a delicate procedure and a long one, but in the end, it was successful.

Nadia and Steve had thought it was strange. Tony without the arc reactor in his chest just seemed unnatural somehow, like he was missing a part of him, but they both adjusted to it eventually. Nadia had even helped Tony to work out a formula to reverse Pepper's abilities, and within the week, they'd synthesised a cure.

Now, Christmas was fast approaching and Tony was hosting a small party at his new house. It'd be the first time since the battle that the Avengers would all be together, except Thor, of course. Nobody had heard anything from him since he'd taken Loki back to Asgard. Nadia was a little nervous, but mostly excited. It'd be good to kick back and have a good time with her friends, because that's what she considered them. She'd talk with Natasha on the phone every now and again, Bruce sent her emails with updates on his research into both of their conditions. Clint had been on an undercover mission for months and had only just gotten back from abroad.

Nadia sighed and smoothed out the skirt of her dress, then grabbed her bag and jacket. She turned the lights off and locked her apartment door behind her, before heading up to the roof of her building. She made sure it was clear before she jumped off the roof and began to fly. Nadia didn't like planes or even the helicarrier much because she wasn't in control of the flight path. But when it was just her in the sky, she adored flying. It was so quiet up there, away from the bustling city and traffic. She was fully in control of the air and she was flying low enough that she didn't have to worry about helicopters or planes, but high enough that in the dark nobody could see her. It was winter out, and the air was frosty but she was enjoying her freedom after a stressful week and so, she didn't care.

She landed lightly on the sidewalk near the newly named Avengers Tower. It was still under construction but the lower levels were done. She walked into the building, getting past security and was greeted by JARVIS. She was one of the last to arrive. The room she was led to was decorated with garlands and tinsel, with a large Christmas tree glowing beautifully in the corner. There were a lot of people in the room that she didn't know and so she just stood there awkwardly for a few moments, trying to find somebody that she recognised.

'Nadia!' Clint called with a smile, waving her over to where he and Natasha were standing. She almost skipped over to them, grinning happily. She embraced Natasha and pressed a kiss to Clint's cheek. They looked glad to see her, well, as glad as two spies can seem. A few feet from them, Tony was standing next to Pepper, dressed in a suit and looking better than the last time she'd seen him. She knew he still had nightmares about the portal, but he seemed to be doing a lot better.

'How are you both?' Nadia asked, shrugging out of her jacket and draping it along the back of a chair. 'Staying out of trouble?'

'Always.' Natasha replied with a smirk. 'What have you been up to?'

'I just got back from Syria two weeks ago.' Nadia said.

'What were you doing out there?' Clint wondered.

'Steve and I were over there helping refugees at the border. I served as a medic.'

'How was it?'

'Satisfying. I got to help people in need and I got away from the city. I needed a change of scenery for a while. And Steve was with me.'

'How is Steve?' Natasha asked, taking a sip from her drink to hide her knowing smirk.

'Good. He's good. He's adjusting well and Fury has been keeping him busy.'

'Speak of the devil.' Clint said, and Nadia looked around to see Steve greeting Tony and Pepper. He caught sight of them and made his way over, shaking Clint's hand and giving Natasha a hug. He wrapped an arm around Nadia and kissed her cheek.

'Hey.' he grinned.

'Hey.' She said, looking up at him and smiling. She caught sight of Bruce over his shoulder and went to go talk to him, excusing herself from the group. She gave Bruce a tentative hug and he smiled tightly at her, looking tired.

'How are you?' she asked. Bruce shrugged his shoulders.

'As well as can be expected. I haven't had an incident since New York, and I'm hoping to keep it that way.'

'Are you sleeping alright?' Nadia asked, noting the rings under his eyes.

'It's just difficult to relax sometimes.'

'I could teach you some techniques, if you'd like.' She offered. 'It helps me keep control too, so they might work for you.'

'I'll try anything at this point.' He admitted. He shifted his feet before continuing. 'I've been examining those blood samples you gave me.'

She'd sent Bruce three vials of her blood for him to test in secret, not even telling Steve that she'd done it. She had run all kinds of tests herself, but Bruce was an expert in bio-organics and perhaps he could find something that she couldn't.

'Did you find anything?' she asked quietly, her heart beating fast.

'I did. Your genes contain an unusual anomaly that I haven't been able to identify. A mutation, if you will.'

'A mutation?' Nadia repeated.

'Yes. It's not chemically motivated, so you haven't been exposed to radiation or anything harmful, it's almost…natural. Like something you'd see in an evolving species.'

'So…what does that mean? For me, I mean. Can you reverse it?'

'You can't exactly reverse the effects of evolution.' Bruce began, sounding wary. 'It's in your genes, your cells. You can't change yourself on a level that deep.'

'So…I'm stuck like this?' She summarised, her stomach sinking in disappointed.

'I'm afraid so.' He confirmed, grimacing. 'I'm sorry.'

'No…no it's okay. I'm in control of my abilities, it's just…I don't want people to think I'm a freak all the time.'

Bruce frowned. 'I know what you mean.'

'It just makes relationships harder.' She sighed. Bruce shifted his feet.

'The Captain seems to be accepting and understanding.'

'Oh, he is.' She said, looking over at him and feeling warmth flood her chest when she saw him laugh. 'He's wonderful. It's just…what if I want to start a family one day? Will my children have the same mutation? Will they have to deal with being a pariah of society because of me?'

'If they do, you'll be there to guide them.' Bruce reminded her, 'You had to grow up and do it all by yourself. They will never have to do that.'

Nadia sighed and nodded. 'Thanks for looking into it, Bruce. I appreciate it.'

'Of course.'

'Have you made any progress with the Other Guy?' she asked, cradling her elbows with her hands. She remembered the look on the Hulk's face that day on the helicarrier. The rage in his eyes had been more frightening than anything she'd ever seen before.

'Not really. Tony has been trying to help me, but so far we haven't had any success.'

'I'm sure you'll find something.'

Bruce sighed and glanced over towards where Steve, Clint and Natasha were standing. He shuffled his feet and Nadia could feel his nervousness.

'So…you and Steve? You seem happy.' He said, changing the subject.

'We are. We're taking it slow, you know? Just getting to know each other. He's a great guy. I'm lucky.' She blushed and tucked her hair behind her ear. She gestured to Bruce, 'Are you seeing someone?'

Bruce chuckled. 'Uh…no. Women aren't exactly lining up to date someone like me.'

'Like you?'

'Damaged. Dangerous.'

Nadia shook her head. 'You're not damaged, Bruce. You're a brilliant scientist, a kind man and you're not ugly.'

'I appreciate that, but no sane woman would be interested in me.'

'You are more than the sum of your abilities, Bruce.' Nadia said, repeating what Steve had said to her not so long ago. Bruce nodded and didn't say anything else. Steve wandered over to them and shook Bruce's hand.

'Doctor Banner,' he greeted, 'I wondered if I could steal my girl away for a dance?'

'By all means.' Bruce smiled and Nadia took Steve's hand, following him out onto the dance floor. He pulled her close and they swayed to the music. She saw Tony pull Pepper out to dance with him and Natasha dragged Bruce out after some persuasion. She smiled.

'What were you and Banner talking about?' Steve asked, his lips near her ear. She shivered.

'I sent him some of my blood,' she said. She saw no harm now in telling him about this. 'He ran some tests on it to see if my abilities could be reversed.'

'And?'

'It's not. My cells literally mutated to give me these powers. It's in my DNA.'

Steve looked away, his face scrunched in thought. 'I didn't know you wanted to get rid of your powers.'

'I just wanted to know if I had the option, that's all.' She said. She hoped Steve didn't feel like she'd deliberately kept him in the dark. She'd had every intention of speaking to him about it…after the tests came back.

'If he could reverse it… if you could be normal, would you get rid of them?' he sounded worried, and Nadia thought about it.

'I don't know…it'd just be nice to be given a choice. You had the choice to go through the super soldier program, Tony had the choice to remove the shrapnel from his chest, even Bruce had the choice to experiment with gamma radiation. I never got a choice.'

Steve nodded, twirling her outwards and then pulling her back in. 'I understand.'

'Do you? Most people wouldn't want to give up powers like mine.'

'You're not power hungry. You just want a normal life.'

'Exactly.'

'Maybe I'm selfish, but…I wouldn't want you to give your powers up.'

'Why not?'

'Because you wouldn't be you. It's part of who you are. But it's not all that makes you, _you_. I guess what I'm saying is,' His blue eyes met hers and she felt herself melting in his gaze, 'I wouldn't change a thing about you.'

Nadia smiled at him. 'Thanks Steve.'

'Well, if I could change one thing, it'd be the fact that you can't dance.'

Nadia gaped at him, 'Wha…? Shut up! You can't dance either!' She cried and Steve just laughed at her. She swatted his chest. 'Well, you snore!'

'I do not!'

'Do too!'

'You don't like bananas. That's weird!'

'I'm allergic!' She protested, smiling. This was just playful banter between them. They did it all the time. Steve started laughing at her and she joined in, feeling happy and content.


	18. Chapter 18

**A.N – I'd love some reviews. Just saying!**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Eighteen

Steve stared at the door, nervous to go in. His palms were sweating and he nervously patted his hair down. He wasn't sure if he was ready for this, but he couldn't leave it any longer otherwise he'd regret it. Sighing out the breath he had been holding, he opened the door. It creaked a little and he looked around. It was a simple room. There was a single bed, a dresser and mirror, with a bathroom to the side. The bedside table was covered in framed photos; some were black and white, some colour. Orange pill bottles were littered between the frames and there was an old record player sitting on top of the dresser.

His eyes finally landed on the woman lying in the bed. Her hair was white, her face wrinkled and spots of age covered the backs of her hands. Peggy Carter's eyes still had the same warmth in them, though. That was something age hadn't taken from her.

Those same eyes widened and then filled with tears. 'Steve,' she breathed, her voice raspy with emotion, 'They told me you were coming but…but I didn't believe it! You…you're alive!'

'Yeah Peg.' Steve said, shutting the door. He walked over to her bedside and sat down in the chair, his movements slow and hesitant. 'I'm here.'

'It's been…so long. How…?'

'It's a long story.' He replied, taking her withered, frail hand in his. 'How's my best girl?'

Peggy gave a watery chuckle. 'Old.'

'So am I.' Steve reminded her.

'You don't look it, though. You haven't aged a day since I last saw you.' She said, reaching out and touching his cheek.

'How has the last seventy years been treating you?' Steve asked. Looking at the pictures beside her bed, he saw her life. A wedding photo, children, birthdays, vacations, parties. She'd really lived after he'd gone.

'It would have been better with you in it.' She said. Peggy shook her head. 'You should have been there with us.'

'I'm here now.' Steve reminded her. 'And I'm not going anywhere.'

Peggy smiled. 'Plenty of time to talk about me. Tell me what you've been up to. I saw you on the television in Manhattan. You met Howard's son.'

'Tony.' Steve nodded. 'He's…'

'A prat?' Peggy suggested using British slang. Steve gave her a confused look. 'A dickhead? A jackass?'

Steve chuckled. 'Something like that.'

'I never thought I'd see the day when aliens invaded Earth.' Peggy shook her head. 'And I've seen my share of strange things.'

'It was an interesting day.' He conceded.

'And what's this I hear about you dating a doctor?' Peggy asked. She began to cough violently and Steve jumped up, frantically looking around for some water. After locating a pitcher and pouring her some water, which she delicately sipped, Peggy sat back and sighed. Peggy's brown eyes studied Steve, who was watching her like a hawk. 'I'm okay.'

'Are you sure? You want me to get a doctor…?'

'No. God, no. I'm so sick of being poked and prodded.' Peggy cradled her glass in both of her thin, frail hands. 'So…that doctor?'

'Nadia.' Steve smiled instantly. 'She's great. You'd like her.'

'How on Earth did you meet a doctor?'

'She gave me my last physical after I got out of the ice.' Steve explained, remembering that day. She'd barely said a word to him, and he remembered thinking how pretty she was. 'She consults for SHIELD.'

'Really?' Peggy raised her eyebrows.

'She's an enhanced, Peg.' Steve said, 'She fought beside me and the other Avengers in Manhattan.'

'What's she like?'

'She's…so smart. She's a genius. She graduated high school as a teenager and got into medical school on a scholarship. She's really kind and caring and she doesn't think she's brave or selfless but she is. She's so stubborn sometimes it makes me want to pull my hair out, and she spends too much money on food. But…I'm crazy about her. She's so beautiful Peg. You'd love her.'

Peggy was smiling sadly. 'I'm sure I would.'

Steve frowned, concerned. 'What's wrong?'

'It's nothing.' Peggy waved a hand dismissively. 'I know I shouldn't feel this way, I have no right, it's just…I just got you back…and I'm losing you to another woman already.'

Steve couldn't help it. He laughed. It was so ridiculous. 'Peggy! No! Listen to me! You're not losing me at all. You'll always be my best girl. No matter what. Nadia understands what you mean to me.'

'I suppose a pretty young thing doesn't need to worry about an old woman like me.' She smiled wryly.

'She's been helping me adjust. Teaching me about technology and films. It's been good, having someone be there.'

'I still have no idea what my grandchildren are saying when they come to visit. They say it's English, but I'm not so sure.' She laughed. Steve chuckled, agreeing with her.

Steve and Peggy sat there, talking for ages, catching up and reminiscing. With most people, it was an effort to hold a conversation. He had to remember what was okay to say, how to behave, but with Peggy it was comfortable. It was familiar and he loved it. Soon, their time was up and visiting hours were over. Steve kissed her cheek goodbye and promised to visit again soon. She'd waved him out the door with a smile and Steve felt a piece of himself fall back into place, a piece he hadn't known he'd been missing.

A doctor stopped him on the way out and asked how she'd seemed. The question was odd, but Steve answered all the same. 'She was good. Happy.'

'She didn't seem confused or disoriented?'

'No…Doctor, what's going on?' Steve crossed his arms.

The man sighed. 'I'm sorry to tell you this, but we ran some tests on Ms Carter recently. She'd been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.'

'I'm not familiar with it.'

The doctor looked surprised but didn't comment on Steve's lack of medical knowledge. Most people knew about the disease these days. 'It's a disease that affects the brain. It slowly deteriorates in function.'

Steve swallowed thickly. 'Meaning?'

'Meaning that over time... she'll forget everything and everyone she's ever known.'

'Is there no treatment? I thought medicine was better in this time?' Steve growled.

'We've come very far in understanding this disease, but as of right now, we have no cure.' The doctor frowned sympathetically. 'I'm sorry.'

He left Steve alone. His mind was reeling and he thought he was going to be sick. His feet moved of their own accord, carrying him out of the retirement home and towards the car he had rented. He ached to talk to Nadia because if anyone would understand what he was feeling, it was her. His flight didn't leave for another two hours, and the wait in the airport was torturous. It was hard for him to believe. Peggy had seemed so normal and then the doctor had told him that she was literally fading before his eyes.

The next few hours blurred before him. If someone were to ask him what the weather was like or what the date was he couldn't tell you. His mind was somewhere else, in another time, where Peggy was young and vibrant. Where she was sharp as a tack and had her whole life ahead of her. He was so lost in memories and moments of the past, he didn't realise that he'd gotten off the plane, that he'd driven to Bellevue hospital, that he was standing at the reception desk.

'Sir?'

Steve blinked and then cleared his throat. 'Sorry.'

'Are you alright? You've been standing here for five minutes.'

'I just need to speak to Doctor Paolera.' He replied, his voice sounding detached and tired.

'She's in the middle of an emergency surgery…' the receptionist replied, but upon seeing Steve's expression, rushed ahead, 'But you can go up and wait for her. She's on the third floor, O.R 2. You can't miss it.'

Steve nodded, 'Thank you, ma'am.'

He followed the receptionist's directions and ended up standing outside of an operating room. A thick glass door separated him from the rest of the room. There was a single patient lying on a bed and seven people crowding around, all in blue scrubs with their hair and mouths covered. He recognised Nadia immediately and watched as she carefully rebuilt a person from the inside out, her delicate hands moving with precision. After another twenty minutes, Nadia stepped back and swept from the operating room, leaving instructions for the nurses. She disappeared for a few moments and then came out right next to Steve. Her hair was covered and she had her glasses on, but she looked so beautiful in that moment and he never wanted to stop looking at her.

'Steve! Wh-what are you doing here?' Nadia's face dropped when she saw his expression, 'What's wrong? I thought you were in D.C for another day.'

'No…I just…I saw her.'

He'd told Nadia that he planned to see Peggy before Christmas and although she'd offered to go with him, he'd declined. It was something he had needed to do himself.

Nadia nodded and crossed her arms. 'How did it go?'

'Good…just…what do you know about a disease called Alzheimer's?'

Her face paled and Steve took that to mean that it wasn't good. The doctor at the nursing home had obviously not wanted to go into details, but Nadia would tell him. They told each other everything.

'It's a disease that affects the brain. It means that over time Peggy will have persistent and frequent memory difficulties, especially of recent events, vagueness in everyday conversation. She'll begin forgetting well-known people or places, she'll suffer deterioration of social skills and she will become emotionally unpredictable…she'll be here Steve, but Peggy will be gone.'

'What does that mean?' Steve gulped. Nadia hesitated before going on and she looked visibly upset at his distress.

'She'll get to the point that she's an empty shell of the person she used to be. Her body will be here but the Peggy you know and love will be gone. She won't remember anything, or anyone. She won't remember who she is.'

'She wouldn't want to live like this.' Steve shook his head, hands on his hips as he began to pace. 'It's not fair. Is there no treatment?'

Nadia shrugged uncertainly. 'There are ways of stalling it, mind exercises and such but…no. There's no way to stop it.'

'So…wh-what do I do?' He asked her. The star-spangled man with a plan, for once in his life, didn't have any clue of his next step in this situation.

Nadia stepped forward and put her hands on his arms, 'You spend as much time with her as you can. You be patient with her when you need to be. You treasure this second chance that you have, even if it's not what you expected.'

Steve's lip began to wobble dangerously and Nadia rose up on her toes, wrapping her arms around him. He felt ashamed when tears began to drip from his eyes and onto Nadia's shoulder, but she just held him tighter and for that, he was grateful. It just wasn't fair. He had found Peggy again only to lose her. It seemed that God didn't want him to be able to reconnect with his past in any way. Maybe this was a sign to let go of the past completely and focus on the future.

'It'll be alright, Steve.' Nadia murmured against his shoulder, 'I'm not going anywhere. You won't be alone.'


	19. Chapter 19

**A.N – Apologies in advance – short chapter folks. Sorry!**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Nineteen

Nadia fiddled with the fine chain of her necklace as she stood amongst the crowd that had gathered in Times Square. The necklace had been Steve's Christmas present to her; a delicate gold chain that held a beautiful, simple and single gold star.

' _Did you get me this because it's the symbol on your shield?' she asked him. Steve laughed, and nodded._

' _I got it because when you wear it, I wanted you to think of me.'_

' _I love it.'_

That had been days ago. They'd planned to watch the ball drop on New Year's Eve together because it would have been another first for Steve in the twenty-first century. However, he had been called away early that morning on a mission for Fury that had been dubbed critical, and Steve (being the self-sacrificing person that he was) went without questions. Nadia had told him it was fine, that it was obviously important, and that she would see him when he got back. But deep down, she couldn't help but feel lonely. Perhaps that was selfish, but this night was supposed to be special. She'd finally worked up the courage to make the first move and had planned to kiss him at midnight.

He wouldn't be there, obviously, and so her plans had been dashed. Steve had insisted she still go, that she celebrate for the two of them if he didn't make it back in time. Nadia wasn't about to stake her hopes on him returning on time, and resigned herself to the fact that she would be alone. Natasha and Clint had both sent her messages wishing her well in the New Year, but so far, no word from Steve. Tony had posted a very interesting photo on Facebook that she was sure he would regret later.

It was a cold December night, and little snowflakes drifted lazily from the sky. Her fingers were pink with the cold and her glasses were hard to see out of. Nadia breathed into her hands, her exhale prompting flames to light up and heat rushed into her fingers. She rubbed them together quickly to preserve some form of warmth and sighed. There were people all around her, blowing horns and whistles, wearing ridiculous hats and badges with the upcoming year plastered all over them. Some were dressed to go to parties, others were rugged up and clasping steaming cups of coffee. Nadia caught sight of a group of children playing in the snow, throwing snowballs at each other and squealing in delight. For a moment, she wondered if anybody would judge her if she went over there and joined in.

Nadia turned when she felt a tap on her shoulder. It was a teenage boy with floppy brown hair and a goofy smile. He could barely move from being shoved from every side, but he seemed happy to be there. He managed to wedge himself next to her and the barricade that kept pedestrians off the street, glow sticks swinging around his neck precariously.

'Hi!' he said and Nadia weakly returned his smile.

'Hi.'

'You're Nymph, right? One of the Avengers.'

People had been coming up to Nadia for weeks now asking for autographs and photos, asking her if she really was one of the heroes who saved New York. She still felt uncomfortable being called a hero and with all the attention, but was starting to get used to people recognising her. Nevertheless, it was still mildly annoying.

'Yeah. I am.'

The boy's face split into a wide grin and she thought he was about to start fangirling right there. 'Oh wow. You are so cool! It is true you can shapeshift into animals? Like, any animal? Could you turn into a dinosaur if you wanted?'

Nadia blinked at the boy's enthusiasm. 'Uh…well…I've never tried it.'

'You totally should. That would be sick as!'

'I'll keep it in mind.' She smirked, imagining the look on Tony's face if she managed to turn herself into a dinosaur.

'Hey, aren't you Captain America's girlfriend? Is he here?' The boy started craning his short neck around to see if he could spot the super soldier.

'He's not here.' Nadia said, looking away and trying not to seem too sad about it, 'Got called away on an urgent mission this morning. He said he'd try to be back in time but I don't think that's happening.'

'That sucks, man. I was hoping to meet him. He's so cool. My great-grandpa served in World War II as well.'

It was still strange to her that Steve was actually old enough to be someone's grandfather. Even a great-grandfather. It always took her by surprise whenever she was reminded and then she would start asking herself if it was weird that there was such a large age gap between them, even if they were both physically and mentally the same age.

'Anyway, it was cool to meet you, but I gotta go find my friend. Stay cool doc!' the boy managed to shove his way through the crowd and out of sight, and Nadia stood there, feeling confused after that strange conversation.

She missed Steve. She knew he hadn't been gone for long, but he was the only person aside from Natasha that she hung out with. Sure, she could talk to Natasha about girl's things and they would train together – they even went to a movie once – but with Steve, she could truly be comfortable. Natasha was shrouded in a cloud of mystery and always seemed cool and calm which was more intimidating than inviting. Steve was more of an open book and he made her laugh until her stomach hurt. What was more important to Nadia, was that he was the first person in her entire life who had made her feel _wanted_.

Nadia snapped out of her thoughts when the countdown began from twenty. She looked up towards one of the big signs and watched as the ball prepared to drop. She wondered if the oncoming year would be as strange as the previous one, or if all the madness would follow into 2013.

' _TEN!'_

Someone touched her arm again and she jumped as she swung around, ready to defend herself when she stopped in shock. 'Steve?'

' _NINE'_

He had a black eye and a cut on his cheek, but it was very much him. He looked dishevelled and exhausted, but the smile he sported still took her breath away.

'Sorry I'm late.'

Nadia gaped at him. 'How did…? Are you…?'

' _SEVEN!'_

'I'm okay. Just glad to be here. With you.' He slipped his hands on either side of her waist and pulled her closer to him. They locked eyes and she couldn't look away. They were like magnets being pulled towards each other.

' _FIVE!'_

'I thought you wouldn't make it.' She breathed. His face was a lot closer to hers than it had been a few seconds ago, and she thought for a moment that Steve might finally kiss her.

'But I did.'

'TWO!'

One of his hands came up and brushed her hair away from her face, his other curled around her back so they were chest to chest. Nadia's own hands pressed to the front of his chest, each looking at the other as if there was nobody else around.

Before Nadia could say another word, Steve's lips were on hers and her world shrunk to fit around this moment. His left hand was cradling her face gently, and although his fingers were cold, she felt nothing but warm and tingly all over. His lips were soft and gentle, but still firm as he kissed her.

' _HAPPY NEW YEAR!'_

Nadia rose up on her toes and curled his hair around her fingers gently, feeling lighter than air. She'd never been kissed like this. Hell, she'd never even been kissed. It was like something out of a movie, one of those kisses that makes your stomach clench and your toes curl.

It only lasted perhaps twenty seconds, but it managed to leave Nadia feeling breathless. Steve didn't back away from her, his arms still around her and his palm resting on her cheek. He touched his forehead to hers. Confetti rained down around them, mixing in with the snow. It stuck to their hair, their clothes, but neither Steve nor Nadia cared. They didn't care about the cameras flashing around them or the screams of people beginning to celebrate the New Year; there was only them.

'I've been wanting to do that for ages, doll.' Steve murmured.

Nadia felt herself giggling, still a little drunk on his kiss. 'Well, I'm glad you finally did. I was about ready to take matters into my own hands.'

'I have no doubt that you would.'

Nadia's thumb brushed his cheek, assessing the cut on it. 'Are you alright?'

'Nothing that won't heal.' He assured her. His hands were still on her waist, and Nadia had to focus on not floating away at the feeling of being so close to him. 'I'm sorry I left.'

Nadia shook her head at him. 'No, don't be. You did the right thing.'

'I promised to spend the day with you.'

'You promised to be here with me.' She reminded him, putting both her arms around his neck. 'You're here. That's enough.'

Steve shook his head, looking sad. 'I feel guilty for leaving you alone though.'

'I've been alone all my life, Steve, and I knew you were coming back to me. You always do.'

'Tomorrow.' Steve said, determination shining in his blue eyes. 'You and me. All day, I'm all yours.'

Nadia's face lit up with a dazzling smile. 'Really?'

Steve chuckled. 'Absolutely. Anything you want. I've been a bad boyfriend lately, leaving all the time for Fury's missions. I want to make it up to you.'

'I guess that'd be okay.' She replied. Steve smiled before leaning down to kiss her again.

Oh yeah. She could get used to this.


	20. Chapter 20

**A.N – Now that they've kissed, I'm going to turn up the heat on their relationship. They've got the cuteness, the trust and the affection, now let's throw in some steaminess. Please drop a review and let me know what you think!**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Twenty

In the weeks after New Year's Eve, Steve had started to warm up to being a little more physically affectionate with Nadia. Instead of kisses on the cheeks and forehead, he would instead press kisses to her lips. He would take her hand whenever he got the chance and they would have long embraces. It wasn't anything hot and heavy, but it was enough to get Nadia's pulse up and make her cheeks warm. She loved being able to be near him. To feel his warmth and hear his breath and smell his cologne. When they kissed, it was the same feeling as when she was flying, only much better. She was addicted to him.

Nadia shook her head to clear her thoughts, looking at her reflection in the mirror. She'd finally caved and had agreed to do one interview with _Wake Up! America_ host Georgie Jackson. The woman had been calling her every week for months trying to get a statement, an interview, any kind of answer to her questions. Nadia figured that this way perhaps she would finally get some peace.

She licked her lips and sighed, patting her hair down. It was pulled up in an elegant twist, and she had on a maroon dress with black pumps. She'd tried to keep it simple and professional, but she felt itchy in her own skin. She jumped when her phone rang and rushed to pick it up.

'Hello?'

' _Stop worrying. It'll be fine_.'

Nadia smiled at Steve's voice, sinking back into her chair. 'How did you know I was worrying?'

' _Because it's what you do.'_ He knew her so well. _'It's not too late to back out, you know_.'

'I can't do that. I don't want people to think I'm a freak and a wuss.'

' _You, ma'am, are not a wuss_.'

Nadia leaned back in her chair, missing him more and more as she listened to his voice. 'How's your mission going?' she asked. Steve had left a week ago on a secret assignment for Fury and Nadia had worried about him the whole time he'd been gone.

' _As well as can be expected_.' He replied, sounding tired. ' _I miss you_.'

Nadia smiled gently. 'I miss you too.'

' _Don't worry about the interview_. _You'll be fine. I have complete faith in you_.'

'What if I say the wrong thing?'

' _Then show them how you can turn into a hippo or something_.'

'Steve.'

' _I'm kidding! Look, you won't say the wrong thing. It'll be fine_.'

'If you say so.' Nadia sighed. A man in a headset waved his arms at her and she nodded. 'I have to go. Be safe okay?'

' _Yes ma'am_.'

Nadia smiled before hanging up. She touched her neck to be sure that her necklace was in place and then stood at the ready to walk onstage. She could see the in-house crowd sitting behind the camera crews and bright lights that illuminated the stage were hurting her eyes from the wings of the stage.

'And now we're joined by none other than a member of the Avengers! She graduated out of medical school in her early twenties, worked with SHIELD as a consultant for over a year and helped save New York City from the Chitauri alien attack. Please welcome Doctor Nadia Paolera!'

Nadia took a breath and then walked out on stage. The lights blinded her but she kept her smile on her face. She waved at the crowd, which was clapping and cheering her onstage. Georgie Jackson was standing, wearing an obnoxiously yellow dress with matching heels. When Nadia got to her, they shook hands and then sat down on the couch. Nadia sat up straight, crossing her ankles and placed her hands in her lap. She felt nervous but tried not to let it show. Georgie sat as far away from her on the couch as possible and the crowd quieted down.

'Wow! I think we're all a little starstruck by you!' Georgie laughed, 'You're a doctor, an Avenger, a skilled martial artist and you're dating one of the handsomest men in the world. I mean, look at him!'

Nadia glanced at the screen nearby where they were showing a picture of Steve and her on a walk in the park. She remembered that day. They'd taken a walk in Central Park and gotten ice cream.

'So how did you two meet in the first place?' Georgie asked, getting right into the good stuff.

'Uh, well, I was asked to come in by SHIELD and give him a final look over before he was declared fit. He'd only been out of the ice for a few weeks.'

'And you two just clicked right away?'

'Well, we were friends for a long while before we started dating. I helped him to adjust to modern times and he gave me sparring lessons. I wasn't all that good at fighting until he came along.' Nadia said with a smile, thinking about how lately, he would reward her with kisses whenever she landed a hit on him.

'Is he a good kisser?' Georgie leaned in with a cheeky gleam in her eyes and Nadia floundered around for a reply, unsure how to answer.

'Uuuuh.'

'Oh come on! You can tell us!' Georgie looked around at all the in-house viewers who had started laughing.

'I think I'll keep that under wraps.' Nadia replied with a smile. Georgie sighed, disappointed, but didn't linger on it long.

'So, the Battle for New York. What was it like for you and your fellow Avengers, to be in the midst of a warzone unlike the world has ever seen?'

'Terrifying.' Nadia replied honestly. 'Nothing prepares you for something like that.'

'You seemed to do just fine.'

'When the people you care about, an entire city, is depending on you to help them survive something like that, it motivates you to fight. To live.'

'So you're saying you drew your strength from the people of New York?' Georgie nodded, testing out how the words sounded.

'I guess so, yes.'

The hostess nodded, seemingly satisfied with Nadia's answer and tucking her hair behind her ear. 'And how does it feel to be in the limelight? Before this you were virtually unheard of and now everybody knows your name. It must be different.'

Nadia had to refrain from snorting. 'That's an understatement.'

Georgie's right eyebrow went up. 'You're not enjoying the attention?'

'I'm more one to blend into the background. I like my privacy.'

'Didn't you sink a group of reporters into wet concrete so they would stop following you and Captain Rogers?'

Nadia frowned, not liking where this was going. 'They were asking inappropriate questions and flashing cameras in our faces.'

'Don't you think it was unfair and unjust for you to use your powers on unsuspecting civilians?' Georgie asked.

'Well, I don't think it was fair of them to follow me to my workplace, camp outside the Emergency Entrance and block patients from getting in just to ask me stupid questions.'

Georgie clucked her tongue. 'Touché.' She replied, shuffling her cue-cards. 'So, is the government going to be taking you into custody any time soon?'

Nadia blinked in surprise. 'Pardon?'

'To do testing on you.'

Nadia felt heat rising in her cheeks in anger. 'Why would they test on me?'

'Because you're an enhanced. I'm sure they'd want to recreate your abilities for military uses.'

'I'm not a lab rat. They're not doing any tests on me.'

'Do you have the right to refuse? Are you even technically human?'

Nadia blanched. 'Of course, I'm human!'

'How do we know for sure? Weren't you abandoned as a baby and didn't you grow up in foster care? How do you know your parents were even human?' Georgie narrowed her eyes at Nadia, who glanced around at the studio, which had gone silent.

'Does it matter? Don't my choices matter more than my DNA?' Nadia replied, flabbergasted and her hands started shaking both out of nerves and anger. The crowd was muttering lowly, some staring openly at her and snickering, some looking afraid.

'Frankly, I think people are afraid of you. Of what you can do.' Georgie sighed, pretending to be dismayed by this. She was shedding her friendly hostess persona and revealing that she wanted to ask all the questions Nadia really didn't want to answer.

'Well they don't need to be. I've dedicated my life to helping people, both as a doctor and Avenger.'

'But what if you change your mind?'

'I won't.' Nadia replied through gritted teeth.

'You can't know that.'

Nadia cleared her throat, having had enough of this conversation. 'I was under the impression this was an interview, not an interrogation.'

'You can't blame people for being curious about you. You're a powerful woman with a high IQ and dangerous connections.'

'Dangerous?'

'The Hulk.'

'You mean Doctor Banner.' Nadia replied dryly. 'He's a wonderful, kind man.'

'Two assassins.'

'With great senses of humour and a surprising value for life.'

'And what about Tony Stark?'

'What about him?' Nadia shuffled in her seat, more than uncomfortable in this situation. This was exactly what she wanted to avoid. She could handle talking about Steve, herself, her powers, even the battle. But now her hands were shaking with rage and she wanted to walk right out of there.

'He's been known to be a little unstable and unpredictable. You're saying we shouldn't worry about that?'

'I don't think you should worry about him turning into a homicidal manic or anything. I still think he drinks too much and should sleep more, but that's about it.'

'Going back to the topic from before, about the government wanting to test on you, a lot of people want to know if you're even an American citizen.'

'As far as I know I was born here. I don't know a lot about my ancestry.' Nadia replied, glaring at the TV hostess, 'Like you said before. I was abandoned as a baby.'

'Why do you think you were abandoned?'

'I don't know.' Nadia replied slowly, hoping that Georgie would get the message that she didn't want to talk about it.

'And you grew up in the foster system but didn't find a permanent home until you were in your early teen years. Why is that?'

'No offence but I don't think that's any of your business.'

'You're in the public eye. People want to know exactly who you are if they're going to trust you.'

'Why wouldn't they?'

'Perhaps…because you're a freak of nature?'

The whole studio went silent. From the corner of her eye, Nadia could see a man in a suit shaking his head, his face in his hand. The people of the crowd had their eyes trained on her while she stared at Georgie Jackson. Nadia could recognise the look in the hostess's eyes now and she knew why she was asked to come on the show, why Georgie was so desperate to speak to her. It was because Georgie thought she was a monster. Most people here probably thought she was and they wanted to know exactly what they were dealing with. Maybe to humiliate her into going underground or something, but she wouldn't let them win.

'Well, I think that it's time to end this little charade.' Nadia said, yanking her microphone off. 'Thank you for having me. Good day.' Nadia stood up and brushed her dress down before stalking off the set gracefully, every eye on her as she left on camera in front of the populous of America.

* * *

'I have never felt so mortified in my life!' Nadia cried into the phone that night, pacing in her living room in her pyjamas. 'I thought maybe if I did the interview people would trust me and stop harassing me and Steve for answers about our relationship but they just used it to plant doubt about the Avengers in the eyes of the public.'

'I thought you did a great job.' Natasha replied, sounding unconcerned. 'People were always going to have a hard time accepting you more than the rest of us because of your powers.'

'But they went after you guys as well. Tried to call us all monsters.'

'I appreciate you defending me. Defending all of us.' Natasha said softly, and Nadia could imagine the soft smile on the spy's face.

'What should I do Nat?' Nadia sighed, flopping down on the couch.

'Whatever comes next, just hold your head high. Don't worry, I won't let anybody take you in to turn you into some kind of science experiment.'

Nadia giggled at that. 'Thanks Nat.'

'Don't mention it.' She replied. 'Now try and get some rest, would you?

'I'll try.'

'Night Nadia.' Natasha said.

'Night.'

Nadia hung up and threw her phone onto the table next to her, sighing and groaning at what a horrible day she'd had. After a few moments of contemplating, she eventually walked into the kitchen and opened a bottle of wine. Usually she wasn't a big drinker, but tonight, she just wanted to relax and feel the fuzziness alcohol afforded her.

She was pouring her second glass when there was a knock on her door. Snatching up her purse, she made her way across the living room and got out the right amount of money to pay for her pizza. But upon opening the door, she was surprised to find that instead of the pizza delivery guy, Steve stood in the doorway. He looked tired and had a cut on his cheek, still wore his Captain America boots and his shield was over his shoulder, but he was there….and he was holding her pizza.

'Steve! What…?'

'I saw your interview and decided to come home.' He replied with a smile, stepping into her apartment and dropping a sweet kiss onto her cheek. Nadia closed the door after him and turned around, watching him with wary eyes. He placed the still-steaming pizza on the table and slipped his shield off.

'What about your mission?'

'They can finish it without me.' Steve shrugged, staring at the half-full bottle of wine on the coffee table.

'You didn't have to do that.' Nadia said, looping her thumbs into the waistband of her pyjama bottoms. Steve smiled at her and came forward to wrap her in a tight hug.

'Of course, I did. You're my girl.'

Despite her sombre mood, she smiled and rested her head against his chest. She felt as though some of her sadness was draining away as she held onto Steve. The steady beat of his heart against her ear was soothing.

'Are you alright?' He murmured lowly, pulling away. Steve's blue eyes were filled with concern and Nadia sighed, plopping herself down on the couch. She tucked her feet up and grasped her glass of wine.

'Not really.' She replied, taking a sip. 'I've never been so embarrassed in all my life.'

'It wasn't as bad as you think.' Steve sat next to her, arm thrown over the back of the couch and Nadia shook her head.

'You're right. It was probably worse.'

Steve leaned over and plucked her glass out of her hands and then placed it on the coffee table. Taking her ankles, he pulled her towards him sharply and when she was close enough, took her face in his hands.

'She shouldn't have asked you those questions. You are not to blame. You behaved like a mature adult and handled it well. You composed yourself with dignity.' Steve held no room for protest in both his tone and expression. Nadia's face was inches from his and she saw he was earnest in what he was saying.

'Everybody will hate me.'

'Nobody who has met you could ever hate you, doll.' He said softly, his fingers catching a lock of her hair. 'Try not to let public opinion get to you.'

'How do you do it?' Nadia sighed, lowering her eyes away from his, picking at the frayed hem of her pyjama bottoms. Her other hand was grasped by Steve, who held onto it tightly.

'Those people don't know me. You do. Natasha does. Tony does. Those are the only opinions that matter to me. Growing up and getting picked on, you tend to grow a thick skin.'

Nadia nodded. 'What should I do?'

Steve licked his lips, 'Tomorrow,' he said, 'You walk into work with your head held high. You don't respond to anything they might say. Just go about your life as usual.'

'And that will work?'

'If you act like it wasn't a big deal, then people will eventually move on and forget that it even happened.'

'Thanks Steve,' she replied with a small smile. 'I don't know what I'd do without you.'

'Come here.' He said, pulling her into another embrace. After pulling back, he pressed a small, sweet kiss to her lips. It lasted a little longer than Nadia had expected, but she wasn't complaining. Steve was a great kisser. Tonight was no exception as his lips continued to move against hers, gentle but slightly insistent. Feeling bold, Nadia clambered into Steve's lap, her hands cradling each side of Steve's face and her legs wrapping around his hips. He held her closely, arms wrapping around her waist and his warm hands brushing against her hip.

She and Steve had shared kisses before, but nothing as hot as this. His kisses before had made her feel warm and tingly all over, and now a fire burned through her like never before. It was exhilarating and she only wanted more. More of his kisses, more of his touch, more of him.

Her breath caught a little bit when Steve's hands pressed against her bare skin on either side of her waist, the shirt she was wearing riding up a little. His kisses grew more passionate, more demanding and she jumped when his tongue brushed against her lips, her fingers curling into his hair. She felt him toying with the fabric of her shirt and she sensed what he wanted, but she knew he wouldn't ask her if it was okay. He was too old fashioned, he would follow her lead on these things and right now, she just wanted him to keep touching her.

She broke the kiss, and feeling a little shy but mostly daring, she reached down and in one swift movement, pulled her shirt up and over her head. She tossed it over her shoulder and took Steve's face in her hands again. She'd had a tank top underneath and so wasn't naked, but she was showing more skin off than she usually did. He was staring at her with wide eyes, something dark and sexy in his blue eyes.

'Damn, doll.' Steve muttered before crashing his lips to hers again, hands trailing all over her exposed skin. His head tilted to the side and their kisses became more frenzied, Steve stripping off his shirt in a moment when they separated to breathe. Nadia shivered, falling forwards onto Steve when he leaned back against the couch, their upper bodies touching. The feeling was exquisite. Nadia could feel every dip, curve and indent in Steve's muscled chest, his skin was so warm and smooth. Nadia had never been high, but she imagined that this is what it would feel like. Here and now, being held by Steve, kissing him, was her own personal heaven.

Steve's arms tightened their hold on her and he shifted his weight under her, her legs still straddling his hips. He shifted too far and Nadia broke the kiss, trying to steady herself but it was too late and they both went tumbling over the edge, landing on the floor next to the coffee table. Nadia ended up pinned under Steve, her back hurting a little from landing on the hard floor.

'Ow.' She groaned, then looked up at Steve, who had somehow stopped himself from crushing her. He was grinning bashfully and his cheeks were pink.

'Sorry,' he mumbled. 'I got a little carried away.'

'It's okay. I got carried away with you.' Nadia giggled a little bit. Steve looked at her and chuckled as well. Before long, they were both laughing at the ridiculous situation they were in.

'You're amazing, doll.' Steve smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear. Nadia blushed a little, placing a hand on his chest.

'So are you.'


	21. Chapter 21

**A.N – I'll say this ahead of time – You're welcome ;)**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Twenty-One

Steve stood staring at the grave, hands in his pockets and head bowed. The snow had long since melted and rain misted lightly over the cemetery. His hair was plastered to his forehead and his jacket was soaked through, but still he didn't move. Steve's eyes were locked on the name on the gravestone – Sgt. James Barnes. Born 1917. Died 1944.

It had been almost seventy years since Bucky died, but to Steve it had barely been two years. Perhaps people thought that he should be over it by now, that he should have processed his death and forgiven himself for that day on the train. But if Steve could go back, if he could do it over again, he would put himself in Bucky's position. Steve would be the one to fall from the train. Not him. Not his best friend.

"Best friend" didn't even seem to cover what Bucky was to Steve. He was the brother he'd never had. Some friends complete each other, balance each other out in every way, and can bounce off each other to work together in impossible situations and that was what Bucky had been to Steve. He was there for Steve when he lost his mother. He helped Steve get his first job and by dragging Steve out on those awful dates, he tried to get Steve to live. To be free and a little less serious.

'I'm sorry Bucky.' Steve mumbled quietly, hoping that wherever he was, Bucky could hear him. 'I wish you were here. You could meet everyone…and Nadia. You'd love her. She's…an amazing dame. She makes me laugh and she drags me out into the world. She makes sure I do things that don't just involve the military or SHIELD. I…I miss you Buck. I hope wherever you are…you're okay.'

Steve sniffled and shrugged his shoulders up higher to protect his neck from the rain, which was coming down in big, fat drops now. He walked out of the cemetery, his shoes leaving muddy footprints on the sidewalk. He wondered what kind of life Bucky and he would have had if they had both survived the War, had been able to go home in the time they were both used to. He wondered what kind of woman Bucky would have eventually fallen in love with, or if he would have fallen in love at all. What kind of jobs would they have done? Would they have stayed in the Army? Helped to found SHIELD anyway? Would they have children and families of their own? Their kids may have played together in the same way Bucky and he played together as children.

It all seemed so beautiful in his mind's eye that it hurt for him to accept that none of it would ever happen. Maybe for him, one day, but not for Bucky. Not ever.

Steve found himself at Nadia's front door before he realised he'd made the decision to go see her. It seemed whenever he was in emotional turmoil, he would go to her. Usually he would deal with his problems by himself, but sometimes it felt nice to have someone listen to him. He knocked and waited for her to answer, bouncing on the balls of his feet. She opened the door and blinked in surprise.

'Steve. What are you doing here? Why are you all wet? Come inside before you catch a cold.' Nadia grabbed his arm and yanked him inside her apartment. She pulled his jacket off and hung it on the back of a chair, where it dripped water onto the floor. She flung a blanket around his shoulders and sat him down in front of the heater.

'Nadia, I can't catch a cold.'

She shrugged, sitting down next to him. 'Doesn't mean I can't worry.'

'You worry too much.'

'It's my job.'

Steve sighed and stared at the wall, his thoughts drifting. She took his hand, playing with is fingers gently, warmth seeping into them again slowly. The cold usually terrified him as it made him think he was back in the ice all over again, but today he felt numb to almost anything. He watched as she breathed on his fingers, little flames igniting in the air and warming his skin.

'I didn't think you'd have heard yet.' She mumbled suddenly and Steve blinked.

'Heard what?'

'About my job.'

'What about it?' Steve's head snapped around, worry filling his numb and empty chest. His girlfriend sighed, dropping her head lower and avoiding his gaze.

'So you don't know.' Nadia mumbled and at Steve's stare, she explained, 'Ever since New York, the hospital board has been on my ass. First, they cut my shifts back, then my pay. Then they tried to transfer me to another hospital, but they didn't want me because they'd have to pay me more. People have been wandering into the hospital, graffitiing the walls and harassing the patients to get to me, telling what a f-freak I am.' She stumbled over the word _freak_ and Steve clenched his jaw shut tightly, his teeth grinding. 'Finally, after that interview I gave, they had a legitimate excuse to fire me. So, they did.'

'They fired you?!' Steve exclaimed. 'Can they do that?'

'Yes. Apparently. I'm too much trouble to keep around, so they got rid of me. Story of my life.' She leaned her head against Steve's shoulder, their hands still intertwined. 'They let me keep my licence to practise, at least, so I could find another job. But…' She shrugged and they fell into silence, each staring at a different point in the room.

'It's Bucky's anniversary today.' Steve said suddenly.

'His anniversary?' Nadia repeated and then sighed, closing her eyes as she realised. 'Of the day he died. Of course, oh, Steve I'm so sorry.'

'It still doesn't feel real.' He murmured, turning his head so that he could inhale the smell of her hair, his cheek pressed against the top of her head. 'To the world, he's been dead for decades. But for me…I'm still so lost without him.'

'You're doing your best. That's all you can do.'

'He would have loved you, you know.' Steve smiled, 'He always liked girls with guts and you probably would have laughed at his jokes.'

Nadia smiled. 'I'm sure I would have liked him too.'

'He was a better dancer than me.'

'That's not hard to believe.' Nadia replied, smirking jokingly at Steve, who nudged her with his shoulder.

'He helped get me my first job.'

'What was that?'

'Paper rounds. It wasn't much, but every penny counted.' Steve said, eyes fixed on the wall, looking at a time that was far away and long gone.

'Are you still having nightmares?'

He looked down at Nadia, whose grey eyes were filled with concern. Steve's throat constricted when the images from the nightmares that plagued him flashed in front of his eyes. 'Every night. Sometimes it's Bucky. Sometimes, I'm back in the ice and I can't breathe. And sometimes… it's New York and I can't save you. You die right in front of me and I can't save you.'

Nadia – lost for words – wrapped her arms around his middle and held him close to her, trying to press her comfort and sympathy through his skin and into his heart, hoping to ease his pain.

'I'm right here.' She said, snuggling in close to him. He responded in kind, holding her as tightly to his chest as she was clinging to him.

'I know…and that's enough for now.'

'Do you want to stay over tonight?' she asked gently and Steve nodded, blinking rapidly as his eyes started to sting.

'Yes.'

She squeezed his middle and Steve closed his eyes. He knew, in that moment, that he would be okay.

* * *

Hand in hand, Steve and Nadia mingled amongst Tony's guests at the opening night of the new Avengers Tower. It was fully rebuilt after the destruction of the battle, and was now better than ever. The Tower, which was to be used to monitor threats, for the Avengers to live in if they wished and a fortress, was booming with activity. It was far grander than the previous Stark Tower and was apparently powered by an Arc Reactor, which was a good thing due to the sheer amount of electricity the party was using.

Steve looked down at her, feeling his breath catch a little. She wasn't a drop-dead beauty like Natasha, or a bold beauty like Pepper, but to him, she was the most gorgeous creature on God's green earth.

'Captain. Doctor.'

Nadia smiled at the grim SHIELD director. 'Fury.' She greeted. He sent her a rare and small smile, before shaking Steve's free hand. 'I didn't think you'd be here tonight.'

'I'm allowed some semblance of fun.' Fury said, taking a drink from the tray of a passing waiter. 'Besides, Stark has the best booze in town.'

Nadia and Steve both chuckled. 'It's good to see you, Nick.' Steve said and Nadia looked up at him in surprise, no doubt because of the way the director and captain greeted each other in such a familiar way.

'I haven't seen you in a while, Cap. Has your missus been keeping you away?' Fury asked, winking at Nadia. Or, at least it looked like a wink. With the eyepatch, it was hard to tell.

'I lost my job.' Nadia explained, her cheeks tinged pink at Fury's implication. 'Steve's been helping me find a new one. So far, no luck. It appears that my reputation precedes me.'

Fury took a long sip of his drink, eyes narrowed in thought. 'I might be able to help you with that. I could make a few calls and get back to you. Having an Avenger out of work would be bad PR after all.

Nadia smiled, knowing the real reason he was helping was because Fury liked her. 'Thank you.'

Fury merely nodded and Steve squeezed her hand in his, smiling gently. She glanced at her watch and sighed. It was past midnight and she had a house call to make tomorrow morning. After making their goodbyes (leaving a very drunk Tony behind) Steve and Nadia left Avengers Tower, making their way to her apartment. Steve always walked her home after dark. He had no doubt that Nadia could take care of herself, but it was more for his own peace of mind that he made sure she got home safely.

'Want a cup of coffee before you go home?' Nadia asked him after letting them both into her apartment. He accepted, following her into the kitchen and sitting down next to the breakfast bar. His eyes followed the movement of her hands as she slipped her jacket off, her bare shoulders coming into view. There wasn't anything particularly erotic about seeing bare shoulders, but the tiniest glimpse of her smooth skin made Steve's heart pick up in his chest. She had kicked off her shoes the moment they were inside the door, her feet sliding softly over the floor in her tights as she made him a coffee.

'You're staring at me.' She stated, shaking Steve out of his daydream. Nadia walked over to him, placing the cup in front of him and standing very close to him, a small smirk on her lips.

'Sorry,' He replied, 'I can't help it.'

She smiled at him softly and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek. He caught the smell of her perfume and it reminded him of an open field of flowers. 'You're sweet, Steve Rogers.' She said once she pulled back from him.

Feeling daring, he slipped a hand onto her waist, pulling her closer to him. Surprised, Nadia braced herself against him by placing her hands on his upper arms. She was looking him right in the eyes and they were barely a hairs breadth from each other. He waited for her to close the gap, eyes glancing down at her lips once and felt his breathing hitch.

In one smooth movement, Nadia leaned forwards, her hands slipping up and around Steve's face so her fingers tangled in his hair, just as her lips met his in a deep kiss. He never got tired of kissing Nadia. Her lips were intoxicating. They moved in sync with his, a delicate but passionate dance.

His other hand found her waist and then slid up her back, pressing against her shoulder blades as she stepped even closer, right between his legs. Her head tilted to the side slightly, her movements no longer as shy and uncertain in the beginning and Steve let out a contented sigh as her lips parted slightly. His mind shutting down and beginning to get lost in the sensations that Nadia was inflicting on him, Steve stood up quickly. Nadia reeled back, tripping over her feet and dragging Steve with her, their lips pulling apart. Steve reached out to steady her, and she bumped into the wall, with him following her. They ended up chest to chest, each gasping slightly. The hand that wasn't around Nadia's waist was braced against the wall and Nadia's hands had moved to the front of his chest, resting above his racing heart.

They stared at each other for a split second before their lips crashed together again, the kiss no longer soft and delicate but full of urgency. He wanted her closer, impossibly closer as the hand that was braced against the wall rested itself on her hip, feeling the curve of her body. They had kissed before, had held each other before, had felt passion before, but every time Steve was close to this woman, it felt like the first time all over again and he loved it.

He ran his tongue over her lips, trying to coax them open and his heart sped up when she parted them, allowing him to explore her mouth. He let out a contented sigh as he pulled her closer, sliding a hand from her hip up her waist and side, to cradle the side of her face. He felt her hand move down, away from his hair and over the sensitive skin on his neck and down the center of his chest. Her hand skimmed around the hem of his jeans and somehow slipped under his shirt, touching the side of his bare hip. She toyed with the fabric a little as he continued to kiss her, pouring every ounce of emotion into every moment.

Nadia started to push the shirt up his chest and Steve pulled back a little, looking at her. They'd never gone this far, never started taking clothes off, but he was too far gone, drunk on the feel of her. He pulled back and lifted his arms so she could slip the shirt over his head. He didn't let her look at his bare chest for long before he was kissing her again, pressing her even harder against the wall, his body surrounding hers. He nipped and sucked on her bottom lip, dragging it out with his teeth. She moaned, arms winding around Steve's shoulders to pull him closer and he felt a thrill at hearing her make that noise.

He was starting to find it uncomfortable to lean down in this position, so he swept his hands down the sides of Nadia's hips, trailed them over the outer edges of her thighs until he felt her knees. He applied pressure until they bent, and scooped her up, stepping between her legs and feeling heat course all the way through his body when she locked them around his waist.

Steve was getting ahead of himself, perhaps pushing too far, but he was finding it incredibly hard to separate from Nadia. She was addictive. She made him feel things he'd never felt in his life. He never wanted this moment to end but he knew they should. He wanted to stay in this moment, so that he could feel like an ordinary man, kissing an amazing woman.

'Nadia,' he mumbled and he heard her sigh slightly. A breathless sigh that sent his blood rushing from his brain to another place. 'Nadia, doll, we need to stop this.'

'No.' She replied heatedly, grabbing his face in her hands again. She stole all resistance from him and he gave himself over to her lead, telling himself she'd stop him when she wanted to stop. Until then, Steve was going to enjoy every second her hands were on him, caressing his skin, feeling every inch of his chest. His skin had long broken out into goosebumps, and they intensified when her nails scraped down his spine. He broke the kiss and immediately started pressing hot kisses to her neck. He'd seen it done in a movie and he'd never done it in reality, but he knew he was doing it right when she gasped his name breathlessly.

'Oh…Steve…'

He was incredibly turned on and he craved skin on skin contact. He wanted to feel her against him, to feel her soft skin. A voice in the back of his head kept telling him to slow down, that Nadia had never done anything like this before, but he couldn't seem to bring himself to break away. His fingers toyed with the zip on the back of her dress and when she only arched her back to create more space, Steve slid the zipper down slowly, exposing the warm flesh of her back. He slid his hands over every inch he had access to. He felt her tracing her fingers over his back and chest as he continued to press wet kisses to her neck and collarbone. She was practically panting now, and Steve was getting swept up in the air that was thick with desire.

'Steve…Steve maybe…maybe we should slow down a little bit.' Nadia whispered, her breath tickling his ear. Steve kissed her lips once more and then pulled back, looking down at his girlfriend whose cheeks were flushed and eyes were hooded.

'Sorry,' He apologized, 'I got a little carried away.'

'Don't be sorry. I'm not.' She smiled, smoothing his hair down gently. 'That was…'

Steve chuckled, gently lowering her to the floor, immediately missing the feel of having her so close to him. 'Yeah, it was.'

She lowered her gaze from his, her hands resting gently on his bare chest. After a few moments of silence, Steve asked, 'Are we alright?'

'Why wouldn't we be?'

'Well, I don't want to mess it up by being too forward or anything.'

'You weren't.' Nadia assured him. 'It was the best goodnight kiss ever.'

'Well, I aim to please.' Steve smiled, pulling her into a tight hug. They held each other for a long time, just enjoying the peace of the moment, the peace that being together made them feel.


	22. Chapter 22

**A.N – Sorry, sorry, SORRY! I got caught up in uni work and then I got sick. Please don't let the late update deter you from reviewing!**

 **Sinead O'Connor,** _ **You Do Something To Me**_ **(I adore this song)**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Twenty-Two

Nadia and Natasha walked side by side, each in SHIELD workout gear with their hair tied up. They had just gotten back from a run in which they left most of the others in their group behind. Since Nadia had been training with Steve, her fitness level had gone to a new level. She still couldn't beat Natasha, Steve or Clint in their brand of hand-to-hand combat, but she was improving dramatically. Her style of fighting was very different to theirs; where theirs was stiff, military training, Nadia's previous training had been primarily in Asian techniques. She was even teaching Steve the basics in knife fighting.

Natasha sipped at her coffee, smirking over the rim. 'Sounds like you and Steve are getting pretty hot and heavy quickly.'

'We've been together for six months, Nat.' Nadia replied, with a roll of her eyes, 'I would say we were moving at a pretty even pace.'

'Still.' The agent replied, 'So…how is it?'

'How is what?'

'The psychical side of it all. Is he good at it?'

Nadia blushed, looking around to make sure nobody was listening and Natasha laughed at her. After making sure they wouldn't be overheard, Nadia murmured, 'It's pretty good, yeah. He knows what he's doing.'

'He would.' Natasha replied, running a hand over her short red hair. 'He seems like the type who's shy on the street but sexy as all hell in the sheets.'

'Nat!' Nadia cried, laughing a little. She hit her friend mockingly on the shoulder. 'Shut up!'

Natasha just smirked at her, 'Well, I'm glad to see you both so happy. You deserve it.'

Nadia smiled and decided to change the subject. 'I heard Fury is starting a new defence project.'

'Classified.' Natasha replied curtly.

'Just tell me if you think it's a good idea.'

'It's not my place to have an opinion on this. I just follow orders.'

Nadia stopped her friend, grabbing her arm and stepping close. 'Nat, you and I both know better. If you just followed orders and didn't have an opinion, you would still be an assassin. So cut the crap and spill.'

Natasha stared calculatingly at Nadia for a moment before her eyes flicked away. 'I don't know the details. But it's a targeting system that can take out any threat to global life.'

'How does it pick the targets?'

'I don't know that part yet. Fury is keeping it close to the chest.' Natasha looked around and then whispered, 'But I have a bad feeling about this one.'

Nadia nodded and said nothing else on the subject. If Natasha knew nothing about it, then Steve wouldn't know a thing either. Fury knew if he couldn't tell Nat something, he couldn't tell Steve, because if she wouldn't go for it, Steve would definitely object.

Natasha nudged Nadia out of her thoughts and jerked her head. 'Come on. We're late for training.'

Nadia nodded and fell into step with her friend, picking up a lighter topic instead as they made their way to the gym. Loud rock music was playing from a speaker in the corner. Clint was sitting high up in the rafters, watching the agents on the ground with sharp eyes. Agent Rumlow looked on as the spy and doctor entered.

'Romanoff! About time!'

'I didn't know you were so eager for an ass-kicking, Rumlow.' Natasha retorted. Nadia skipped over to Steve, smiling. He dropped a kiss to her cheek.

'Hey.'

'Hey,' she said.

'You ready for this?' He asked her with a cheeky grin. Nadia crossed her arms.

'Always.'

She and Steve made their way over to the practise mat and Nadia kicked off her shoes, enabling her to feel the floor beneath her better. The mat made things a little harder for her to sense vibrations, but she would manage. Steve was standing straight, head high and legs taut, ready to spring into action.

'Ten bucks on the cap.' Rumlow muttered lowly. Natasha hushed him. The room fell quiet. Nobody made a sound as they watched two Avengers face off.

Nadia and Steve continued to stare at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Her fingers twitched at her side, but otherwise she didn't move. She had gone into battle mode; her senses had opened up so that she could feel every breath he took, could feel the thump of his heartbeat, could even feel the tension in his body. Steve was coiled like a snake, ready to strike in a split second.

Nadia blinked, and that's when Steve attacked. She saw his advance coming and dodged to the left, landing a flat handed strike to his back. They never hit in these practise sessions, but the kicks always hurt. Steve turned swiftly and they both brought their fists up, circling around each other. Nadia struck first this time and Steve blocked it. They exchanged blows with each other, neither of them landing a hit. Nadia's heart sped up with each second that passed, her eyes locked on Steve's.

He caught her fist as she punched forwards, using her momentum to spin her around and put her in a headlock. Nadia grabbed his arm and kicked her feet out, using her own weight against him. She bent forward, flipping Steve over her shoulder, his arm still in her grasp. He didn't stay down for long, kicking out with his feet and she went sprawling on the mat. She saw rubber knives on the edge of the mat and grabbed them, holding them in a practised grip. She'd always been good with these; they suited her better than a gun and she could work them in with her powers. Steve got to his feet too and appraised her as Nadia held the practise knives in her hands. Nadia shot forward, slashing at him swiftly. It almost became a dance, with each of them dodging and weaving their way around each other, trying to land hits and find weaknesses. Steve was more experienced in hand-to-hand combat though, and eventually slipped one of the knives from her grip and into his own. As he shifted his positions, she took the first opportunity she got and jumped on his back, pulling his head backwards and exposing his neck, jabbing the knife down.

'I win.' She whispered. Steve chuckled and she felt something jab her in the stomach. She looked down and saw the knife that he had taken from her was aimed at her abdomen, where if he actually wanted to cause harm, it would kill her.

'Ah.' She said, and withdrew the knife, slipping from his back. 'A tie then.'

'Another round?' he asked her.

'You know if I could use my powers in these sessions I'd beat you, right?' She jested. Steve chuckled and followed her off the mat so that the next pair could have a turn. She jogged over to where the water was and took a long drink.

'Learning to fight without your powers is a good thing. Besides, the practise is good for you.' He said, frowning suddenly. 'I don't want you to get hurt.'

'I can take care of myself, Steve.' Nadia reminded him gently.

'I know.' Steve said, taking her hand. 'Am I still coming over for dinner later?'

'That was the plan. I'm making your favourite.'

Steve glanced at the group and then jerked his head back to the mat. 'Ready for round two?'

'Yes, but just know I'm not going easy on you this time.' She teased and Steve laughed.

'I wouldn't expect you to, doll.'

* * *

Steve didn't bother knocking at Nadia's door anymore, simply letting himself in. It still made him a little uncomfortable to do so, due to his upbringing, but she had insisted that he make himself welcome there. The smell of her cooking instantly hit him and involuntarily, his mouth watered.

'Honey, I'm home.' He called jokingly. He heard Nadia giggle and followed the sound to the kitchen. Sinead O'Connor was playing softly from her iPod on the kitchen counter and he couldn't help but think how normal this all felt to him. Being around her in this strange era was the only thing that made him feel less homesick for 1945. He came up behind her and with one arm, wrapped it around her middle, the other brandishing a bouquet of flowers.

'Oh, Steve they're beautiful.' Nadia said, taking them and pressing them close to her face, inhaling the sweet scent. 'Thank you.'

'You're welcome, doll.' He replied quietly. While she was distracted finding a vase for the flowers, Steve reached forwards and dipped a finger into the sauce, despite his girlfriend's protests. 'Tastes good.

'Well, that's a relief.' She replied sarcastically. Steve wound his arms around her waist, dropping his head down to the curve of her neck and shoulder. Her hair was still wet from her shower, smelling of cinnamon and apples. She squirmed in his embrace.

'Stop! That tickles.' Nadia giggled, elbowing him so he would step away, but he only held her tighter, pressing feather-light kisses to her exposed skin. Goosebumps erupted on her skin and he nipped her ear.

'Does it still tickle?'

'You are very cheeky, Captain Rogers.' Nadia replied, stepping away from the stove and letting the food simmer.

'Sorry.' He said, taking a step back. Growing up, he'd been very witty and cheeky to survive the constant bullying he had been forced to endure. He'd often been berated for it, people claiming he had a "smart mouth."

'No need to apologise. It's very attractive.' She replied and then tilted her head to the side. 'So, what are the flowers for?'

'I thought it'd be nice. I know you've not had it easy the last few weeks.'

Nadia literally hovered in the air to press a kiss to Steve's cheek, watching in amusement as his face flamed a bright pink even after all this time they'd been together. 'What did I do to deserve you?' she wondered.

Taking her hands, Steve lead her out of the kitchen and into the living room, feeling spontaneous. He cleared the floor and offered her his hand.

'Dance with me.' he asked softly. Nadia's grey eyes widened in delighted surprise behind her glasses and she took his hand, squealing a little when Steve pulled her close to him. He wasn't afraid to be affectionate with her anymore, at least when they were alone. She brought out a passion in him he'd never known existed before. They swayed to the music slowly, eyes locked and the air between them charging with emotion. They were barely touching, but Steve felt like he was on fire. Steve's stomach clenched when Nadia smiled at him and he knew then and there he was a goner. He was irrevocably and completely hers, heart and soul. He'd never felt this way about anyone.

'What are you thinking?' Nadia murmured suddenly, her voice quiet. Steve swallowed thickly before answering.

'About you.'

'What about me?' She sighed, sounding calm and content.

'We've been together for over six months now.' He began, unsure how she would react to his suggestion, 'And I thought we should celebrate that.'

'What did you have in mind?' Nadia asked, smiling in curiosity as they continued their dance.

'I thought we could go away for a while. Just you and me. No missions, no responsibilities, just the two of us spending time together.'

'But…Steve, they need you.'

'They survived for seventy years when I was in the ice,' he reminded her, spinning her outwards and then back in. 'Besides, I've been neglecting you lately.'

'Steve…' She started but then sighed, trailing off. There was some truth in what he said. She didn't resent him for always going on missions because that was who he was. It's what he did and Nadia knew Steve loved helping people. How could she resent him for that? 'Where were you thinking of going?'

'Natasha said that Miami is lovely this time of year.' Steve grinned, 'You can work on your tan.'

Nadia laughed and slid the hand that was on Steve's shoulder up to his neck, curling her fingers into the edges of his blond hair. 'When do we leave?'

'Friday?'

'Sounds prefect to me.'

Steve leaned down and kissed her gently, putting his hands on the small of her back as they continued swaying to the music. Nadia's fingers were playing with the small hairs at the nape of his neck, sending a shiver down Steve's spine. Their foreheads were pressed together, eyes still locked. With the smell of Nadia's cooking on the stove, gentle music playing in the background as Steve stared into her beautiful grey eyes, Steve did the bravest thing in his entire life.

'I love you.'

Nadia pulled back, eyes wide and mouth gaping open in surprise. Steve stared at her, trying to keep his face blank in order not to show his panic at her reaction. He hadn't planned on saying it out loud so soon, but he'd known it for weeks and just hadn't had the courage to tell her. This was all new territory for him, he'd had other experiences with girls when he was younger, but never a relationship like this. He'd never loved anybody like this, not even Peggy. He would follow this woman anywhere, do anything she wanted, be anything she needed if she would stay with him, be by his side.

'I love you.'

Steve snapped to attention, looking at Nadia, who was blushing but held his gaze steadily. For a moment, he wondered if he'd imagined what she'd said, but he knew from the look in her eyes that she'd really said it.

Reaching out, he brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers. Her eyelids fluttered shut at the contact, and Steve took her face in his hands. Steve's face inched towards Nadia's, their lips barely meeting, a ghost of a touch. Their noses bumped against one another and that seemed to bring Nadia back down to Earth. She grabbed the front of Steve's shirt and their lips met in a crescendo of desire. The kiss started out slow, but quickly descended into something more. It became a battle of lips and teeth and tongue, each trying to fight for dominance in the kiss. It was hard to tell where one began and the other ended, their arms and bodies twisted around like vines.

Eventually they broke away to catch their breaths and they looked at each other with giddy expressions. Steve hadn't been so happy in all his life, and he kept Nadia in his embrace, never wanting to let her go.

'What's that face?' she asked, tracing a finger down his nose.

'What face?'

'That face right there.' Nadia giggled, pointing to his expression. Steve shrugged, a smug grin on his face.

'I'm happy.' He replied simply. 'The happiest I've been in a long time.'

Nadia didn't say anything, gladly returning Steve's next kiss, and squealing when he lifted her up into his arms bridal style, spinning her around. She tipped back her head and laughed, both feeling lighter than air.


	23. Chapter 23

**A.N – Sometimes I feel that people forget that Steve is a MAN. He was a MAN during the war and probably had his fair share of hook-ups. Sure, he's a total sweetheart and a gentleman, but he's not a saint. So, please leave a review (You may need a cold shower after this chapter, just so you all know)**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Twenty-Three

Nadia hadn't hesitated a second when Steve asked her to go away with him for a week. She would follow him to the ends of the Earth if he asked her to. This promised to be the most romantic week she'd had in so long, however, there was the question of sleeping arrangements. Steve was in the bedroom, unpacking his belongings and completely unaware that there was only one bedroom in the entire apartment. It's not like Nadia and he hadn't slept in the same bed before, because they had, but this time it seemed…different. Those few times they had slept side by side had always been after missions, when they were both too tired to talk, much less drag themselves away from a comfortable bed in search of another. Those times they'd fallen into coma-like sleeps, but this time they would consciously get into bed together, and sleeping next to someone seemed trivial, but to Nadia is held a sort of intimacy she couldn't quite explain.

Nadia leaned against the doorframe, looking around the bedroom. It was clean, stylish, and the bed was large and looked comfortable. It would easily fit the both of them…if Steve was okay with them sharing.

She cleared her throat to get his attention, 'So, I just finished looking around and well, there's no other bedroom.'

Steve looked up. 'Oh.'

'So, um…'

'I'll take the couch.'

'No, Steve, I didn't mean to try and kick you out of here.' Nadia said. Steve watched her as she stepped forwards, hands on the sides of her thighs. 'I just thought we could, you know, share.'

'Share…the bed?' Steve repeated, eyebrows raised.

'Yeah. If…if you want.' Gods, why was she so nervous? 'It'd make things easier and that couch does not look comfortable at all.'

Steve was watching her closely and the intensity in his eyes made her want to squirm where she stood. Eventually he looked down at his duffle bag and then back up at her, 'Then maybe you should unpack.'

Nadia gaped at him for a moment, 'You're okay with it?'

'Why wouldn't I be? We've shared a bed before.'

'Well, yeah but we passed out as soon as we got into the bed.'

'Doll, I'm fine with it if you are. Just holding you and waking up with you next to me…makes me happier than I could have ever thought.' Steve had walked over to her and taken her into his strong arms, a warm and comfortable embrace that she melted into. Deciding to get on with their holiday, Nadia pulled back.

'Alright, well, I might unpack later. I thought we could go down to the beach for a while. It's a beautiful day.'

Steve smiled and expressed that he thought it was a good idea. They each got ready in their own time and then made their way down to the beach, hand in hand. The people of Miami were all dressed casually or walked around in their bathing suits due to the hot and humid weather. There were bars, cafes, restaurants and little boutiques along the street, which buzzed with activity. In their sunglasses and out of uniform, it was easy to blend into the crowd, and soon they were at the beach, the soft sand warm from the sunshine and the water looked cool and calm.

Steve dropped the bag Nadia had packed for them on the sand and they each began to set up their little area, with Steve assembling the umbrella and Nadia laying out a beach mat for them. When Steve was done, he plopped down next to her and stretched out his legs. It was the first time she had seen him in shorts and she was admiring his legs discreetly as she rubbed sunscreen into her skin. She pulled off her sundress and then sat down again, revealing a red and white polka dot bikini that she had bought two days ago. She turned to Steve, sunscreen bottle outstretched.

'Can you do my back for me?'

Steve swallowed thickly and wordlessly nodded, taking the bottle from her. She tried not to groan when his hands started massaging the sunscreen into her back, but she let her eyes fall shut in complete bliss. His hands were magic, applying the right amount of pressure and all too soon he was done and went to hand the bottle back to her. She raised an eyebrow.

'I know you're a super solider, but that doesn't make you immune to skin cancer.' She smirked and Steve rolled his eyes at her and started spreading the sunscreen everywhere his skin was exposed. When he pulled his shirt over his head, revealing his exquisitely muscled chest, Nadia had to look away. He was an attractive man, nobody could deny that, and lately it was getting harder for her to keep her hands off him.

When he was done, he stood up, stretching and Nadia followed suit, glancing around the beach. She caught a few girls staring at Steve and suddenly felt territorial when she noticed the hungry looks on their faces. He didn't seem to notice as he continued to stretch, unconsciously showing off his impressive body.

'Race you to the water.' He said suddenly, a childish grin on his face. Nadia returned the smile.

'Oh, you're on.'

'Prepare to lose.'

 _We'll see about that,_ she thought. 'Ready,' she said, on the verge of giggles. 'Set…GO!

They each took off like bullets from a gun. Steve was taller than her and had a better leg reach, but Nadia was fast, so they were pretty evenly matched. Steve gently nudged her with his elbow to throw her off balance, but Nadia had grown up with kids who had tried tricks like that and so it didn't even phase her. She nudged him back and they both were laughing as they reached the water, Steve just beating her by an inch. They splashed into the shallows, each gasping from their laughter and the run.

'You cheated!' Nadia accused, pointing a finger at Steve.

'It's not my fault you couldn't keep up.' He chuckled.

Nadia glared at him and after taking a quick glance around, she flicked her hand and a wave of water crashed over Steve, dousing him from head to toe. He spat water out of his mouth and put his hands on his hips as she giggled at him. He lunged at her and she squealed when he threw her over his shoulder and waded out into the water. She couldn't help but notice that his hand was resting on bare flesh.

'Steve! Put me down!' Nadia cried, still giggling at this playful side of Steve. She loved it when he was so carefree like this. He stopped at her words, now up to his hips in the water and shrugged easily.

'Okay.' And he dropped her into the water. The water was cold and Nadia came up spluttering, her hair plastered to the sides of her face and gasping. Steve grinned at her. 'Now we're even.'

Nadia splashed him and he splashed her back. They were both acting like teenagers on summer vacation, running around in the water, laughing and splashing one another. They carried on that way for hours, sometimes exchanging kisses that lasted longer than Steve usually permitted when they were in public. They explored the cliffs and rockpools, walking up and down the beach with their arms wound around each other, eating ice creams.

'Come with me,' Nadia said, glancing around and then leading Steve to the cliffs again, his hand clutched in hers. She'd had an idea, and hoped he'd like it. When they were far from the view of the people on the beach, Nadia skipped over the sharp rocks and stood on the edge of the ocean, leading Steve with her. 'Do you trust me?' she asked him.

'With my life.' He responded immediately and she smiled. She let go of his hand and jumped into the water below. She surfaced quickly and waves sloshed around her, breaking on the rocks that Steve stood on.

'Come on.' She beckoned and after a moment's hesitation, he glanced around and then jumped in after her. He came up right next to her and Nadia's hands found their way to the tops of his shoulders. They stared at each other for a moment and then Nadia took his hand. 'Take a deep breath,' she instructed and as one, they ducked under the water. It took them both a moment to adjust to the salt water in their eyes, but Nadia kept a firm hold of Steve's hand as she used her powers to propel them gently through the water, to where it was calmer and clearer to see. They came up for air then and Steve grinned at her.

'That was amazing.' He crowed, looking around them. The beach was still visible, but nobody would be able to see them this far out.

'Just wait. You haven't seen anything yet.' She ducked back under the water with a cheeky smile, and Steve followed her. For a moment, he couldn't see her, and then bubbles began to rise rapidly around him, forming a huge bubble around his head and when he let go of his breath, he found that he had a decent supply of air. He looked around and saw that Nadia had done the same thing. She took his hand with a dazzling smile, and they swam off into the sea.

Normally, Nadia would shift into the form of an aquatic animal if she was going to be in the sea, but she wanted to share this moment with Steve as a human. She saw the look on his face when they approached the reef, when he saw all the animals swimming around. Nadia led him over to the reef and felt extremely glad that she was able to share this part of her life with him. She'd been doing things like this for years, and doing it with Steve made her feel less lonely. Eventually they had to go up again for air, but the second time they went down under the water, Nadia propelled them back towards the shore, and they surfaced in a small alcove, completely cut off from the main beach.

Nadia flopped down on the sand, letting the sun dry her and her skin soaking up the warmth. Steve lay next to her, chest heaving as he took deep breaths.

'That was amazing.' He said, 'I've never seen anything like it.'

Nadia smiled, closing her eyes. 'I'm glad you had fun.'

She felt rather than saw Steve roll onto his side and she peeked up at him. His right arm was bracing his weight against the sand, his left going to rest on her waist. Her ran a hand up the arm that was resting on her waist, feeling the water droplets that coated his skin. Steve's eyes seemed darker and she noticed that in the very centre of his eyes, there was a tinge of green had come through, something that only happened when he was feeling emotional. She dropped her gaze as her skin tinged pink in a blush.

'What are you thinking?' She whispered to him, staring at his slightly parted lips.

'How beautiful you are.' He replied and the blush on her cheeks intensified, like it always did when he called her that. He leaned down and kissed her chastely before resting his forehead against hers, his long eyelashes ticking her skin. 'We should get back. It's getting dark.'

'Just a little longer.' Nadia said, reaching up to press her lips against Steve's again, this kiss deeper than the one before. It was a steady kiss, one that made Nadia want to sigh in content, and groan in anticipation. All too soon, the moment was gone and the kiss ended. Steve pulled away, getting to his feet and holding a hand out to help Nadia up. His lips were pink, his face flushed and his hair had sand in it, but to Nadia, he looked more handsome than ever.

'We should go to the hotel.' He said and Nadia sighed in agreement, taking his hand and allowing him to pull her to her feet easily. 'Uh…which way back to the beach?'

Nadia laughed and pointed. 'This way. Come on, Captain. We'd better make sure that nobody has stolen our things from the beach.'

* * *

Nobody had stolen anything of theirs, and it was sunset by the time they made it back to the hotel. They'd both showered (separately) and Steve was sitting on the couch while he waited for Nadia to appear. She had somehow convinced him to watch something called Lord of the Rings and was now gripped on the story. She ran into the room, hair still damp and wearing pyjama shorts and one of his t-shirts, and jumped over the back of the couch to sit next to him. She brushed her hair out of her face and looked up at him expectantly. They had decided to order room service instead of going out to eat that night, simply because the flight and their day at the beach had exhausted them both.

They began to watch the movie, only pausing it to answer the door when their room service arrived. They ate in silence, each too absorbed in the movie to talk. When the film was finished, it was quite late and Nadia yawned widely.

'It's late. We should sleep.' Steve said and Nadia nodded in agreement, getting up and stretching. He turned off the television, ensured the door was locked and then turned off the lights before following her into the bedroom. she had turned down the covers and was plugging in her phone to charge. Steve, feeling nervous suddenly, slipped into one side of the bed, the cool sheets a welcome relief after the humid day. Nadia got into the bed too, pulling the sheets up over her waist and turning the light off, rolling over to look at Steve. The room was now only illuminated by full moon outside, casting them in an eerie light.

'Goodnight Steve.' She whispered.

'Sweet dreams, doll.'

After a second of hesitation, Nadia leaned over and pressed her lips to Steve's cheek gently. She pulled back and at the soft look on her face, Steve couldn't stop himself from kissing her lips. He had only meant for it to be a short and sweet kiss, but as the seconds ticked by, he knew he couldn't pull away. Nadia was too addictive and God did he want more of her. His hands tangled in her hair as she gripped the front of his shirt, tilting her mouth sideways to deepen the kiss.

Steve took full advantage of this, slipping his tongue into her mouth and he felt a thrill run through him when Nadia let out a soft moan. He rolled them over so he hovered over her, kissing her lips repeatedly before moving up over her cheek towards her ear. He caught her earlobe between his teeth and gently nipped at it and was rewarded by another moan from Nadia, this one a little louder. Her hands had slid up the back of his shirt and was deftly feeling every dip, curve and crevice of his back, her small and gentle hands just skimming the skin and making every touch more sensitive. When his shirt had ridden all the way up his chest, he leaned back and let Nadia sit up in order to slip his shirt over his head. As soon as Steve's bare skin was exposed Nadia danced featherlight kisses across his collarbone, sternum, and dipped her tongue into the hollow of his throat.

'Shit.' Steve cursed as Nadia's fingertips brushed over his chest, down his stomach and stopped at the waistband of his boxers. He was trying to control himself, trying not to scare her away.

He caught her face in his hands, kissing her again and she let out a little squeak of surprise and Steve smiled against her lips. Nadia's hands kept travelling all over Steve; up and down his arms, over his shoulders, his abdomen, his chest. All while Steve devoured Nadia's mouth and she fell back against the pillows again. He slid his hand down the side of her face, over her shoulder and down the side of her ribs, the heel of his palm just barely brushing against the side of her breast. She gasped into his mouth, but Steve's hand had already moved down, past her waist and hip to her thigh.

Following his lead, Nadia took her legs and wrapped them around Steve's hips. Steve broke the kiss again, he started pressing hot kisses to her ears and neck, stopping to nibble on her soft skin and eliciting delightful little gasps and moans from her.

His resolve was slipping. This was as far as they'd ever gotten in the few months they had actually been physical in their relationship, and he didn't want to push her too far too fast.

'Nadia,' he murmured against her skin, breath ragged and voice husky. 'Nadia, doll, we need to stop this.'

He saw her pout and he smiled at how adorable it was. 'Do we have to?'

The question made him freeze. That wasn't what he'd expected to come out of her mouth, and he wasn't sure how to react. 'Only if you want to.'

'Do _you_ want to keep going?'

Steve – for one wicked second – thought about simply pressing his pelvis against her to show her just how much he wanted to keep going, but thought better of it. Instead, at the stormy look in her grey eyes, he said breathlessly, 'Very much.'

'Good, because so do I.' The words were barely out of Nadia's mouth before Steve was kissing her again, no longer gentle, but insistent and fervent. He peppered her face with little kisses, making Nadia giggle slightly before he dropped his head down to her exposed stomach. The shirt of his that she was wearing had ridden up around her waist and her flat abdomen showed. He kissed the spot right below her bellybutton and she stopped giggling immediately, sighing instead. The edge of the shirt rose up as he kissed upward, over her stomach and the bottom of her ribcage. He could feel her breathing increase, and saw in the dim light that her chest was heaving, her head had fallen back and her nails were digging into his biceps.

'Can I…?' He left the question hanging and after a few seconds of consideration, Nadia nodded. Never breaking eye contact with her, he lifted the shirt over her body and eventually freed it from her body. He barely even looked when he tossed it, too busy staring deep into her eyes. He saw her apprehension and noticed that the hands she had around his arms were trembling slightly. He dropped his forehead to hers and she closed her eyes briefly, before looking up at him again.

'You…are…perfection.' He emphasised every word with a kiss on her forehead, cheek, then her lips. Nadia all but melted in his embrace, and Steve knew she was okay. He moved to kiss her again and their bare chests brushed. They both groaned at the contact, Nadia's legs tightening their grip around Steve's hips. A rush of heat ran to his groin when Nadia leaned up and latched onto his earlobe, teasing it with her teeth and tongue, much in the same way he had done to her earlier. He detached her from his ear and plunged his tongue into her mouth relentlessly, a hand coming up to cup her left breast. She gasped and arched her back into him at the contact. Her breasts weren't massive, but they fit nicely in his hands. He couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit of male pride when he squeezed and she moaned loudly.

Steve's lips travelled the length and breadth of Nadia's neck and throat, down her collarbone and to the valley between her breasts. His blue eyes flicked up to her face before he closed his mouth over the nipple of Nadia's remaining breast.

'Ohhh…' she gasped out, biting her lip and her hips giving the tiniest twitch. He smiled inwardly, and his tongue darted out. Nadia started to wriggle underneath him at his ministrations and after a few moments, he switched sides. Her breath was coming out in ragged gasps and rasping moans of his name. Her fingers had found their way into his hair and every now and again she would tug on the blond hair, which only aroused Steve even more.

He eventually released her breasts and began to pepper her stomach in kisses, moving all the way down to the waistband of her shorts, his hands gripping her thighs.

'Steve.' Nadia groaned and he shivered. He wanted her to keep saying his name, over and over again.

'Yes doll?' His own voice was husky with lust.

'I think…maybe this has gone far enough for tonight…'

Steve sighed and nodded, agreeing with her, even though part of his brain was telling him to keep going and spend all night ravishing this gorgeous creature in front of him. Instead, he kissed Nadia softly and sweetly, very different to the kisses he'd been giving her before. He gently untangled her legs from around his hips and he felt her fingers slide out of his hair. He lay down on his side of the bed and when Steve saw Nadia moving away, he swiftly and easily pulled her across the bed so that her bare back was pressed against his chest, her head just below his chin.

'I want to sleep with you next to me, doll.' He murmured in her ear, watching her shiver as his breath tickled her ear. She nodded wordlessly and let him wind an arm around her waist, holding her close. He was taking deep breaths to try and calm himself down, her proximity to him not really helping, but he couldn't bear to let her go just yet.

'I love you,' Nadia breathed gently, snuggling closer to him.

'I love you too, Nadia.'


	24. Chapter 24

**A.N – I wrote this chapter about four times before I was completely happy with it, so I hope you all enjoy! Also, I wanted to ask if any of you guys want me to write a full-on lemon for Steve and Nadia. Please let me know in a review what your opinion is!**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Twenty- Four

Birds. She could hear birds chirping. Blinking her eyes open, she saw sunlight stream into the room, a light breeze ruffling the gossamer curtains. She heaved a deep breath and rolled over, smiling, ready to cuddle up to Steve. Her hands met an empty bed though. Sitting up, she saw he was nowhere in the room. Clutching the sheets, Nadia slipped from the bed and grabbed Steve's discarded t-shirt. After peeking into the bathroom and seeing he wasn't there either, she walked out into the living room. She grabbed a hair tie and quickly pulled her hair up and out of her face, walking over to the balcony. She slid the door open and breathed in the fresh air, a light sea breeze ruffling her hair.

She began to worry if Steve not being here was a sign. Was he embarrassed by what had happened the previous night? Did he regret it? Was it _bad_? She groaned, dragging a hand over her face, continuing to stare at the waves as they crashed on the shore.

Nadia whirled around when the door opened. Steve entered, covered in sweat and wearing running shoes. He was carrying a tray with coffee cups and a paper bag. He smiled when he saw her.

'Morning!' he chirped.

'Morning,' Nadia smiled, gesturing to the tray. 'What's all this?'

'Breakfast.' Steve replied, handing her the tray and dropping a kiss on her head. 'I went for a run this morning while you were still asleep. Thought I'd bring back some food too.'

'That's…very sweet, Steve.' Nadia said, feeling a rush of affection for him. He shrugged and toed off his shoes, both making their way to the couch. She sipped her coffee, which was just the way she liked it. 'How long have you been up?'

'A few hours.' He said, taking a bite of his blueberry muffin. 'I didn't want to wake you. So I went for a run.'

'For that long?' Nadia raised an eyebrow.

'Super solider, doll.' He reminded her with a smirk. She grinned, shaking her head and switching on the TV. 'What did you want to do today?'

'There's supposed to be a market on a stretch of the beach. I thought we could go and look around? Maybe get some groceries for dinner too.'

'Sounds good to me.'

They ate in silence, watching the news for a while, their free hands entwined.

'You're not mad at me, are you?' Steve asked her suddenly. Nadia blinked in surprise and turned to she could face him fully, examining his face critically.

'No, of course not. Why would I be mad at you?'

'Because of last night.' Steve was being evasive, which meant that he was uncomfortable. He always fumbled with his words when he was nervous. 'With the…you know. Kissing and…stuff. I didn't make you feel pressured or anything, right?'

'No. I actually enjoyed myself very much.' Nadia shifted to brush a lock of hair away from her cheeks, which were tinged pink. Steve blushed too, but he looked pleased with her answer. 'You've done that before, though, haven't you?'

'I…In the war. There were a few times with women…'

'Peggy?' she asked, curious.

'No, Peggy and I never…' Steve shook his head. 'I cared for her. Deeply. But for years it was just a continuous battle that seemed like it would never end and eventually you get to a point where you would do anything to stop thinking about all the carnage for a few minutes. I mean, the war made me feel like I was doing something right, but it came at a cost. Peggy was special, but we never…'

Nadia nodded, dropping her gaze. It made sense, but she couldn't help the pang of jealously that flared up in her stomach. She knew it was ridiculous, but feelings weren't always rational. She wasn't mad at Steve because she knew this had all happened a long time ago, but it still didn't stop her from resenting those other women.

'It's never felt like that before.' He confessed, jerking Nadia from her thoughts. His eyes had dropped, unable to meet her gaze. 'It felt different with you. Special, more intense…It was like I couldn't get enough of you.'

'Yeah?' Nadia bit her lip to prevent a wide grin.

'Yeah.' Steve finally looked at her and she knew he was telling the truth. She could see it in the depth of his eyes. 'I just don't want to rush you.'

'You didn't do anything to me that I didn't want you to, Steve.' Her tone was gentle but firm. She wanted to leave no room for doubt here. Steve looked relieved at this, and brought a hand up to caress her cheek, his thumb brushing her lips. A tingling sensation dropped all the way down to her toes and she shivered.

Thinking she was cold, Steve pulled her close to him and she settled against his side naturally, like she had so many times before. His fingers brushed over her hip suddenly. 'How did you get this scar?' he asked her.

'Swimming in the ocean. I cut myself on a piece of coral.' She said, eyes dropping to a thin, jagged scar on his shoulder that was visible above the neckline of his shirt. 'How did you get that one?'

'1944. Piece of shrapnel.' He pointed to another scar on her thigh. 'From New York?'

'Yeah. It's healed nicely.' She murmured. It seemed trivial, asking about one another's scars, but to Nadia, it was very intimate. Talking about battles and the past and themselves was one thing, seeing the map of someone's life on their skin was another. She put her head back down on his chest and snuggled closer to him, his warmth inviting and familiar. 'I could stay here forever.'

'Me too.'

'… _seems like two of our favourite Avengers were having quite some fun in the sun yesterday!'_ Nadia cringed when she heard the headline and turned her head to watch the screen. Steve was frowning next to her, his grip around her shoulders tightening slightly.

The television showed footage of the two of them at the beach yesterday, splashing and running through the water, laughing. Despite herself, Nadia couldn't help but think how cute they looked together. She blushed when the Steve in the video leaned down and kissed the other version of her quickly, leaving them both grinning. She glanced over at the man next to her quickly, before returning her attention to the news.

' _These two lovebirds certainly are cute! It seems like the two of them just wanted to get away for a while, especially in light of recent events, including the disastrous interview with_ Wake Up! America. _We really don't blame the couple for wanting to distance themselves from the public for a while. They work so well together, the dynamic these two share is one we here love to admire!'_

'Well, at least somebody likes us, even if it is a gossip show.' Steve mumbled, making Nadia laugh. He got to his feet, stretching. 'I'm going to have a shower.'

'Good, because you reek.' She giggled.

'Oh, do I?' Steve said, pouncing on her before she could do much more than squeal. He pulled her over his shoulder, her feet kicking and she laughed as he spun her around. 'Do I still reek now?!'

'Steve! Put me down!' Nadia giggled, hanging onto his back.

'Not until you take it back.'

'Never! You smell!'

The two continued to laugh as Steve spun her around again.

* * *

The rest of the week passed by too quickly for Nadia's liking. She and Steve spent their time going to nice restaurants, taking runs together, or just walking around and having fun. They did make another few trips to the beach and even went to a local bar. But all too soon they were packing their bags and getting ready to head back to the airport.

Steve's phone started shrieking loudly and he answered after two rings. 'Rogers.'

Nadia looked over, arms crossed. _Who is it?_ She mouthed.

 _Romanoff,_ he mouthed back. 'We'll be back in New York in about three hours…did you find anything useful?...what do you mean…a what?' Nadia raised her eyebrows at him and Steve sighed. 'Okay. We'll be there.'

'What is it?' Nadia asked immediately after Steve had hung up.

'Romanoff has got something. She, Barton and Stark raided an old mansion. They got wind that someone was doing illegal human experiments there. They found something that they want us to see.'

'What is it?'

'Nat wouldn't say, but she was rattled. We'd better go. They're sending a jet for us.'

Nadia nodded and continued packing. 'Well, we should hurry then.'

'What do you think it could be?'

'When it comes to illegal human experimentation, there isn't much that I don't know. I did a lot of digging into it when I was younger. I … thought it was what had happened to me. That my powers were the result. Bruce might have some insight into it too.'

'You thought your parents had experimented on you?'

'I was abandoned as a baby. A newborn, essentially. I don't know what my parents did, but I know what kind of people they were and they were into something dark and dangerous. Every time I've tried to find something on them, people have turned up dead. So I just stopped looking for my family.'

'Don't you want to know?'

'If they wanted me around, they wouldn't have abandoned me.' Nadia replied sharply. 'Besides, I know that I was born this way because my DNA mutated. I'm a part of evolution, not a science experiment.'

'Unlike me.' Steve replied bitterly. 'You're a natural phenomenon.'

'You're pretty phenomenal too, you know.' Nadia reminded him and Steve smiled at her gently. 'Come on, the car will be here to pick us up soon. Don't want to keep the team waiting.'

After an hour and a half of turbulence and Steve gripping her hand so tightly she lost feeling in her fingers, Nadia and Steve landed in New York. Tony's chauffeur and body guard, Harold Hogan was waiting for them in the airport. He greeted them both with a serious face and helped load their luggage into the car. He took off out of the private air hangar and into the mid-day New York traffic. Nadia sighed. She hadn't missed the loud atmosphere, the terrible air quality or the traffic. But she was glad to be home.

As they pulled up to Avengers Tower, Hogan turned around in the driver's seat. 'I'll take your bags to your rooms. Mr Stark wanted you to go straight up. JARVIS will take you there.'

'Thank you, sir.' Steve said, opening the door and then extending a hand to help Nadia out and onto the sidewalk. They both hurried hand-in-hand into the building before anybody could recognise them and were greeted by Tony's AI, JARVIS.

' _Good Morning, Captain Rogers, Dr Paolera. Mr Stark is expecting you.'_

'Thank you, JARVIS. Could you take us to him, please?' Nadia asked as the elevator to their left opened. They stepped inside and shot up through the building. It opened to a loud wailing sound and Nadia stepped out, instantly looking around to see who was hurt. Clint was nowhere to be seen and Natasha was talking to Tony, who looked over at Steve and Nadia as they entered and sagged in relief.

'Thank God you're here. I thought you two wouldn't come back from your honeymoon.' Tony drawled, coming over to them. Nadia blushed, but continued to look around. Clint sauntered into the room, looking frazzled.

'What did you need us for?' Steve asked.

Tony wiggled two fingers for them to come further into the room and the wailing got louder as they walked forwards towards the couch. Lying on the seat was a cardboard box and nestled inside, was a squalling baby.

'Oh my god!' Nadia cried, letting go of Steve's hand and making her way around to the baby, who had tears rolling down its cheeks and was nearly red in the face. She slid her arms under the baby and lifted it into her arms, immediately patting its back and trying to soothe the distressed child. 'What is wrong with you? You kidnapped a kid?!'

'Firstly, we didn't kidnap her. Secondly, can you please make her stop crying? She's giving me a migraine.' Tony groaned. Nadia glared at him and rocked the baby in her arms, crooning softly to calm her down.

'She wouldn't have been crying if you hadn't left her in the box! Honestly! Have none of you been around kids? They need comfort and affection, not to be left alone for hours!' Nadia fumed and while Tony just sipped at the amber liquid in the glass in his hand, the two spies had the decency to look abashed.

'Tell us, _exactly_ , what happened.' Steve said, crossing his arms and squaring his shoulders, going into his 'Captain Mode.'

'We got a tip from a source of mine that a group of scientists had started experimenting on kids. There's a huge market for people with abilities nowadays, from kids to soldiers. Some organisations will pay top dollar for perfect specimens to test on. I've been trying to get a solid lead for months now. We followed this one up and it turned out to be good information. So, the three of us took the base along with the SHIELD Strike team. We were able to capture all the scientists and secure their notes and findings. The children have all been returned to their parents…except for her.' Natasha said.

'We couldn't find any information on her. No family, no missing persons, not even an Amber alert fitting her description.' Clint said, staring at the little girl in Nadia's arms. The baby seemed to be settling down, no longer wailing. Instead, little whimpers and sniffles broke the otherwise tense conversation.

'We took her to the SHIELD medical facility and the doctors there cleared her, but we thought you should have a look at her.' Natasha said, green eyes bright with worry.

'Because I'm a doctor and I've got contacts in human trafficking rings.' Nadia nodded, shifting the baby in her arms. 'Smart. I'll see what I can do. But for now, let's get this little one sorted out. I want to run a full panel on her blood, I also want to check her for any markers of an enhanced.'

'Banner is already running those tests upstairs.' Tony said and Nadia just nodded. Less work for her to do.

'Do you have somewhere for her to work?' Steve asked Tony, who tiredly pointed over his shoulder.

'Lab is that way. It will have everything you need. Don't make a mess, or I'm billing you for it.'

Nadia nodded and headed towards the lab, Natasha and Steve on her heels. The baby in her arms was finally quiet and she looked down at the little creature. She had big blue eyes and fine curls of blonde hair on her head. She seemed a little underweight and there were a few bruises on her arms. Nadia felt rage run through her, white hot and unyielding. She'd experienced more than her fair share of beatings growing up in the foster system and seeing another kid – especially this little baby, who was so helpless and so small – suffer in a similar way angered her more than she ever thought was possible.

'Are you okay?' Steve asked quietly.

'No.'

Steve nodded and watched as Nadia continued to soothe the child like she had been doing it all her life. She glanced at the cold steel bench that lay in front of her and Steve was already laying down his jacket so that the baby wouldn't catch a chill. She smiled at him before laying the baby on it gently, her finger still in the baby girl's clutches.

'You're good at this.' Steve noted. Nadia let the baby hold onto her finger while Natasha watched from the door.

'I've had practise. There was always at least one baby in my foster homes and when I became a doctor there were babies in the maternity ward and the emergency room…' she trailed off with a shrug, reaching for the stethoscope that lay on a tray not far from her. She breathed on the end and leaned over to put it in place over the baby's chest. Steve let the baby girl take hold of his fingers and play with them a bit, staring up at him with blue eyes that looked just like his. After a moment, Nadia stood up straight again and wrinkled her nose.

'Her heart is strong and her lungs are clear, so that's a good sign. She's a bit underweight for her age though, so we should get some fluids into her ASAP.' Nadia turned to Natasha, 'Could you go get some baby formula? And some diapers too.'

Natasha nodded and swept from the room quickly. Nadia turned away to gather the things she needed to take a blood sample and when she turned back around, saw that Steve was grinning down at the little girl as she continued to play with his fingers, sucking on the tips every now and again.

'You ever think about having a family?' he asked her suddenly and Nadia almost dropped the things she was holding in shock. She gaped at him.

'I…uh…well…' She said, her face crimson. Steve was looking at her innocently, as if he didn't see a problem with the question. 'Do you?'

He lifted a shoulder in a lazy shrug. 'One day.'

Nadia nodded and sighed in relief. She had thought about the possibility of one day having a family of her own and she hoped it would even be with Steve, but she felt it was a little too soon to be talking about children.

'What should we call her?' Steve asked and at Nadia's frown of confusion, he explained, 'We can't just keep calling her "the baby" or "her." We don't even know if she has a real name.'

Nadia nodded, tying a band around the baby's arm and examining the veins in her elbow. 'Your favourite movie is the Wizard of Oz, right?' she asked.

'Yes…maybe we could name her Dorothy?'

Nadia raised an eyebrow at him. 'Do you want her to get picked on?'

'I like that name.' Steve defended with a small pout.

'It's the name grandmothers have in romance novels.' Nadia grinned, readying the needle.

'Maybe we could call her Dot? For short then?'

Nadia considered and then smiled at Steve. 'I like it.' She turned to the baby girl on the table in front of her. 'Do you like that name too?'

The child answered her with a big grin, waving her arms around in glee at the attention. Steve seemed to nod in satisfaction.

'Dot, it is.' He declared.

'Could you hold her arm still for me?' Nadia asked and Steve did as she requested while she heaved a breath and then inserted the needle into Dot's arm. The baby immediately began to cry and Nadia cringed. She drew the blood as quickly as possible and stepped away from Dot to put the vial of blood on a tray. Nadia then picked Dot up in her arms and cradled her close, trying to stop her from crying.

'It's alright, Dot, it's okay.' Nadia said gently. 'We're going to find your family. Don't you worry.'

She missed the expression on Steve's face, but if she had seen it, she surely would have blushed.


	25. Chapter 25

**A.N – So sorry for not updating. Life got hectic and I became quite unwell. Please leave a review to let me know what you think though.**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Twenty-Five

Steve watched over Dot while Nadia poured herself into reading all the files that Tony, Natasha and Clint had seized. After running all the tests she could think of, Nadia had declared that there was nothing out of the ordinary about Dot and had immediately jumped into the research. Steve had taken over looking after the infant, with strict instructions from his girlfriend on exactly what to do.

Clint had gone to catch up on some sleep somewhere in the building, whilst Tony was using JARVIS to try and locate Dot's family. Natasha was on the other side of Nadia, typing away furiously on the laptop they'd stolen. Dot was guzzling formula down happily, while Steve sat on the ground next to her, smiling softly. He glanced over at his girlfriend and studied her intently.

Her glasses perched on her nose, hair up in a messy bun, reading highly classified documents and glancing over at Dot every now and again to check on her. Earlier, Nadia had looked so maternal with Dot in her arms, so natural. Something had sparked in Steve's chest at the sight, and he found himself fantasising about having a family with Nadia someday. Wondering if they would have his eyes, or her hair. It had all come to the forefront of his mind, he had painted the pretty picture so easily that it scared him a little. It wasn't that he was afraid of commitment, quite the opposite, really. But that didn't mean that it was time for him to start thinking about things like babies and….and marriage.

'Find anything interesting?' He asked the doctor, dropping his gaze to look down at Dot. The baby was staring at him intensely as she drank.

'Loads.' Nadia replied, not looking up from the pages. 'There are dozens of files on just the subjects themselves. Detailed records of their families, the types of experiments each were subject to, and then there are the formulas, the equipment designs, the results…these guys were thorough.'

'Try not to sound so impressed.' Natasha droned.

'I'm not. I'm disgusted.' Nadia replied sitting back in her chair and taking her glasses off to rub her eyes tiredly. 'How people could do this to kids…'

'It makes sense. If the tests are successful and they create enhanced people, then it'd be easier to train them from infancy than from adulthood.'

Nadia crossed her arms. 'Who's admiring whom, now?'

'I'm not. It's just the most rational thing to do. It's what I'd do.'

'Well,' Steve cut in, 'I'm glad you're not in charge of an illegal child experimentation and trafficking ring, Natasha.'

'We should destroy these notes.' Nadia said, gesturing to the mess on the table. 'That way nobody can try to recreate the experiments.'

'And there's nothing in there that can lead us to Dot's parents.' Natasha added with a sad frown. Steve took the now empty bottle from the infant and wiped her chin with a cloth.

'Hopefully Tony has found something.'

'That would be a negative on that, Captain.' Tony swaggered into the room, hands in his pockets. He pointed at Dot. 'Don't let that soil the rug. Pepper would kill me.'

' _That_ , has a name.' Nadia glared at the billionaire. 'It's Dot.'

'What? You couldn't name her something like Gigi? Or Spot? Personally, I like Rover.'

'She's not a dog, Stark.' Steve scowled.

'You should have thought of that before you nicknamed her Dot.'

'Did you find anything, Tony?' Natasha drawled with a lazy smirk, sitting back in her chair with her arms folded. 'Or did you just come out here to insult someone who has a higher IQ than you do?'

Steve chuckled at Tony's indignant face. Nadia pushed her chair back and jumped over the back of the couch and landed next to Steve. She sat beside him and picked the baby up, smiling at the delighted grin on Dot's little face.

'The only thing I could find on her was a birth certificate, but the names of the birth parents aren't listed.'

'Who signed the certificate?' Steve asked, leaning back on his hands.

'Doctor Lance Oxford. But he was murdered six months ago.'

Nadia frowned, letting Dot fiddle with the necklace Steve had given her. The doctor and captain glanced at each other, sharing a look that communicated their unease. Dot squirmed in Nadia's arms and the doctor let go, letting the baby hover in mid-air, crossing her now free arms in front of her.

'This doesn't feel right,' She said, 'Whoever took her, wherever she came from…this is something dark.'

'You mentioned you had contacts in human trafficking rings.' Natasha said, brushing her red hair out of her eyes. 'How?'

'I poked around in a lot of things I shouldn't have trying to find some trace of my family. I made some friends along the way. You'd be surprised what a diamond or a little chip of Vibranium will go for in the right circles.'

'How did you get your hands on Vibranium?' Steve speculated. He was beginning to wonder just how much he didn't know about the girl he was in love with.

'I know people.' She waved an indifferent hand in the air. Dot flew gently around the coffee table, not so rough as to make her sick, but enough to entertain her for the time being.

'Did you contact them?' Steve wondered.

Nadia shook her head. 'I tried one. Line was disconnected. People like that won't want to associate with me now that I've joined the Avengers. Not to mention, the people that run these sorts of rings are ruthless. They'll want payback because we shut down one of their facilities.'

'So how do we find the little stinker's family?' Tony asked, glancing at Dot who was giggling as she zoomed around the room.

Nadia shrugged, defeated. She leaned against Steve, who put an arm around her instinctively. 'I have no idea.'

'What should we do?' Steve asked Natasha. The spy shrugged.

'We should turn the case over to SHIELD. They can find Dot a temporary home with one of the agents until someone can find out where she came from.'

Steve looked over at Dot, who flew back into Nadia's outstretched arms and nestled there happily, turning her little head to gaze at Steve. He was going to miss Dot. They'd only been around the little girl for a few hours, but he had grown attached to the child. Turning her over to SHIELD custody would be difficult, but they could ensure that she was safe and looked after.

Nadia looked about as happy with this new arrangement as he felt, but they both agreed to the plan. Steve got up to follow Tony to make the arrangements and Natasha came over to sit with Nadia on the rug.

'She's cute.' Steve heard the spy say.

'Want to hold her?'

'Uh…sure.' Natasha replied after a moment of hesitation.

'Who would have thought?' Tony said with a raised eyebrow. 'Black Widow…scared of a baby.'

Steve didn't fail to see the hilarity in the situation. His eyes fixed on his girlfriend as she played with the child, a bright, radiant smile on her face. Steve couldn't quite believe that she was dating him. A dame like _her_ , with _him._ She was so beautiful and she didn't even try, her smiles were enough to get his heart racing and his mind whirring. Seeing her playing with a baby, so happy and making the whole thing look so normal, made his chest feel like it was expanding to accommodate his swelling heart.

'You ever think about having kids?' Steve asked and Tony shifted away uncomfortably.

'Cap, I'm flattered and all, but I'm just not interested in you that way.'

Steve rolled his eyes. 'I meant you and Pepper.'

Tony sighed. 'I don't think the world needs another Stark running around and neither Pepper or I are exactly parental in nature. I can barely keep my relationship with her on stable grounds. Adding a kid to the mix doesn't seem like the most responsible thing in the world.'

'Tony Stark thinking responsibly…what is the world coming to?'

'Don't get used to it.'

* * *

Saying goodbye to Dot had been harder than Steve thought. Especially for Nadia. She'd fussed over the child for a good ten minutes before allowing the Agent to take Dot away. Fury had promised she'd be safe and well cared for until their team could find her family, but Nadia had still let a few tears slip out. Steve's heart had hurt at seeing Nadia so upset, and watching Dot go had hurt him more deeply than he thought. They'd both agreed to stay in the Avengers Tower for the time being, mostly because they were both so tired that moving to either of their apartments was out of the question.

He watched her stumble around the room a bit, dragging herself into the bathroom to change and brush her teeth before falling into bed, snuggling into the covers. He followed her example, sliding into the bed and laying on his back, the softness of the mattress a constant surprise for him.

'What is it?' Nadia mumbled, her face buried in a pillow and her eyes closed. He turned his head towards her, a small frown marring his forehead.

'Pardon?'

'What's bothering you?' she said and hurried on, 'And don't say it's nothing, because I can tell. Your body is all tense and your breathing is irregular…so tell me what's wrong.'

Steve sighed, running a hand over his face. He didn't know how to say it, where to begin? 'You never told me all of that.'

'All of what?'

'The child trafficking and all the work you did to find your family.' Steve said, looking down at her. Nadia's grey eyes stared up at him, unblinking and stormy. 'There is so much about your past that I don't know.'

Nadia huffed out a breath and shifted, surprising Steve when she got up and straddled his hips, taking his face in her hands gently. 'My past doesn't matter. It's in the past for a reason.'

'It does matter. It made you who you are.'

Her eyes scanned his face and Steve tried not to think about how beautiful she was. He couldn't afford to get distracted. 'What do you want to know?'

'Everything.' His reply was instantaneous and honest. Nadia sat back she pursed her lips, as if unsure where to start. Steve watched the way she tucked her hair behind her ears and wrinkled her nose like a rabbit.

'When I was eighteen I had access to my foster care file. There wasn't much in there, things that I already knew. So, I hired a private investigator. Saved all the money I could from a waitressing job I'd gotten to pay for it, but she didn't find anything either. So, I started looking in less than savory places. I met people in the drug business, thinking my parents may have been caught up in that…but nothing. Then I started looking in illegal child experimentation and child trafficking. I found a few leads, but nothing solid. I managed to save loads of kids from terrible lives, but I didn't find anything out about myself. So, after two years of looking, travelling all over the world and following what must have been dozens of leads…I gave up.'

'You gave up?' Steve replied, eyebrows rising.

'Yes. I decided it wasn't worth spending my life chasing after people who didn't want me.' Nadia took his hand. 'I decided the delving into dangerous things just to find answers was not worth my life. I focussed on getting my medical degree and helping people who really needed it. I focussed on building some kind of life for myself. Even though I never had friends or someone close, I felt better. Lighter. Like I could finally crawl out of this hole I'd fallen into trying to find out who I was.'

'So, you didn't find anything?'

She hesitated. 'I…I did find something. One lead. Someone who was so deep in world affairs and covert operations that nobody knew who it was. Somebody who was so elite that they called him the Ghost. I thought if I could find this person, they could give me answers.'

'Did you find this Ghost?'

Nadia nodded. 'I did.'

'Was he helpful?'

'Not in the way I expected.' Steve noticed that she was being vague and decided not to push it. He ran his hands up her arms and noticed her shiver.

'Come on. Get in before you freeze.'

With a grateful smile, Nadia slipped in the covers and cuddled up to Steve. This was the only way he could sleep in a bed; when she was next to him. Otherwise he would just sleep on the floor with a pillow and blanket.

'You're not mad that I kept that all from you, are you?'

'Of course not.' Steve said. 'Like you said, it's in the past.'

'I guess…I'd like to know more about your childhood too, you know.'

Steve smiled, breathing in the scent of her shampoo. 'We can talk in the morning.'

'Okay. Goodnight Steve.'

'Sweet dreams doll.'


	26. Chapter 26

**A.N – It's going to get hot in here people! Not going to lie. Please leave a review and let me know what you think!**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Twenty-Six

Steve hit the punching bag again, sweat dripping down the back of his neck as he swung his fists forward. He was alone in the training room, the silence making his hits and grunts of exertion echo. He was bored mostly – the Strike team had been sent out on a mission without him and Nadia was currently being interviewed for a job, leaving him all alone with nothing to do. He had even called Tony, but it had gone straight to voicemail. It was times like this he missed having Bucky around.

Heaving a massive sigh, he hit the bag again and was impressed when it swung backwards violently, but the chain did not break. A slow clapping sound filled the room and Steve whirled around, surprised that somebody had managed to sneak up on him. Nadia stood in the doorway to the training room, ankles crossed as she leaned on the doorframe and clapped slowly. She was dressed professionally in a blazer and skirt, her hair pulled up and away from her face. Her eyes shone behind her glasses as she grinned at him.

'Nadia,' Steve greeted. He took a moment to appreciate how lovely she looked.

'Hey,' she replied, walking closer to him, her heels clicking on the floor lightly. 'Take it easy on the poor punching bag, babe. What did it ever do to you?'

He felt a little thrill go through him when she called him " _babe_ ," and he grinned at her. 'Just working through some pent-up energy. How did your interview go?'

'Well, I think.' She replied, watching him unwind the wrappings from his hands. 'It's decent pay and it's a women's crisis centre. They provide counselling, temporary housing, medical treatment…it's a great organisation.'

'I sense a "but" coming.'

'But…' Nadia said, 'The job I interviewed for is in DC. Not here in New York.'

'DC? As in Washington DC?'

Nadia nodded, crossing her arms and dropping her gaze. 'I'd have to move there if I get the position.'

Steve nodded slowly, mind whirring with the information. A bolt of fear as fierce as a lightning bolt had run through him at the thought of them being separated and he quickly tried to think of a solution.

'Well…the Triskelion is in DC and so is Peggy…' he considered. 'It'd be good to be closer to her since her health isn't that great…and it would mean I'd be closer to SHIELD in case they needed me.'

Nadia's head snapped up. 'What are you saying?'

'I wouldn't say no to moving there.' Steve said slowly.

'You'd…move to DC for me?'

Steve stepped closer to Nadia, eyes running over every inch of her hopeful face. He grasped her upper arms and pulled her closer to him. 'Doll, I'd move to the moon if it meant being with you.'

'Are you sure?' She bit her lip, putting her hands on his chest. 'You love New York. It's where you grew up, your home.'

Tilting her chin up gently with his finger, Steve made her look him in the eye as he said, 'I love you more, Nadia.'

Nadia smiled brightly at him and Steve leaned down to kiss her. He pulled away a moment later and noticed with some satisfaction that she looked a little dazed. 'What are you doing here, anyway?' he asked.

'Well, I know it's your birthday in a few days and I wanted to give you these.' Nadia reached into the breast pocket sewn into the inside of her jacket and pulled out two tickets. 'Broadway musical called _Wicked_. It's about what happened before the _Wizard of Oz_.'

'My birthday isn't until July, Nadia.' Steve pointed out, even though he was pleasantly surprised.

'So, it's an early present.' She shrugged, still smiling at him.

Steve took the tickets, 'You didn't have to get me anything, doll.'

'Yes, I did.' She grinned playfully and pushed her glasses up her nose. 'I'm your girlfriend. Besides, you've been out of the ice for almost year now. I thought we should celebrate with something you've loved since before the war.'

Steve tucked the tickets into his back pocket before pulling her to him again and capturing her lips in a searing kiss. Nadia's hands held his face as he pulled her tightly to him. Normally, Steve would never kiss her like this in public, but he couldn't help himself. Their relationship had grown by leaps and bounds lately, and he was finding it hard to keep his hands to himself. He was so ridiculously in love with her, it was like she lit a fire in him that only grew higher and hotter the more he was around her.

A loud wolf whistle made them break apart and Steve looked around to see the entire Strike team standing in the door way, each smirking and elbowing each other.

'Boys.' Nadia greeted coolly while Steve blushed deeply.

'Doc. Cap.' Rumlow nodded in greeting.

She turned and winked at Steve before turning to leave. 'Pick me up at six, Captain. Don't be late.'

As though nothing had happened, she swept from the room, the burly men making a path for her and letting her pass, more than a few turning to watch her walk out the door, Steve included.

'Some woman, Cap.' Rumlow grinned.

Steve sighed, ruffling his hair and grinning bashfully. 'You have no idea.'

* * *

Nadia glanced up at Steve, a small smile still on his face as they sat in the cab heading back to his apartment. Taking him to see the musical had been like having a child along. He'd never been to musical theatre performance before and it was a new experience, but he would laugh and gasp and clap in all the right places, even shedding a tear once or twice. Nadia had to admit that the musical was beautiful; everything that anybody could want when going to theatre. It had drama, romance, friendship and comedy, all the while telling a beautiful and deep story. When Nadia had heard _Wicked_ was coming to Broadway again, she knew she had to get tickets. _The Wizard of Oz_ was Steve's favourite movie, and it would have been an injustice to him if she didn't take him to see it.

'So, I take it you liked it?' Nadia asked, tracing her thumb over the back of Steve's hand.

'Very much. Gave me goosebumps more than once.' He looked over at her, 'Thank you for that. It was the best birthday present ever.'

She smiled at him, 'I'm glad you liked it.'

'Even if it wasn't my birthday.'

'Don't be ungrateful.'

Being in love was strange. But it was a good kind of strange, like when you get a static shock, but much more powerful and exhilarating. When he smiled, she felt like the earth was shaking and when she was in his arms she felt that she wasn't alone anymore. Maybe being this in love and this dependant on someone for happiness wasn't healthy, but she couldn't help it.

She gazed out the window, watching as drops of rain started to roll down the glass lazily. The cab pulled over and Steve paid the driver, opening his door and helping Nadia to slide out the cab, closing the door behind her. The air was warm as summer began to roll in and mixed with the moisture in the air from the rain, it made Nadia feel uncomfortable in her dress.

Taking her hand, Steve pulled her into the apartment building and they made their way to the elevator. His hand was warm in hers and she felt her heart pick up. This was how their dates usually ended – going to one of their apartments for a drink or to watch a movie and they would always end up making out on the couch, or the bed…or the floor.

But there was a tension between them tonight. She'd felt it ever since she'd gone to see him at the training room at SHIELD and it was sparking between them now as they stepped into the elevator. Steve pressed the button to his floor and tucked his free hand into his pocket. Nadia grinned at her feet as the door to the elevator closed and it started moving upwards at a snail pace.

The very air in the elevator seemed to have been supercharged and Nadia swallowed thickly, glancing up at Steve quickly and biting her lip, feeling her heart speed up. She pushed her glasses up her nose nervously and patted her hair down. She felt Steve shift closer to her, giving her hand a squeeze. Nadia wasn't sure what was going on between them right now, but it was enough to make her tingle all over.

Finally, the elevator arrived on Steve's floor and she followed him out, returning the smile he gave her. He quickly led them both into his apartment and flicked the light on. It was neat and clean as it usually was, but Nadia didn't get a lot of time to have a look around. Steve had grabbed her by the waist and spun her around, pinning her against the back of the door. His blue eyes were smouldering and she knew then that he'd felt the same thing she had in the elevator.

'Steve.' She whispered, the look on his face sparking fire inside her. Something in just his expression could make her feel like this and _damn_ did she want him. They reached for each other at the same time, Nadia's hands on either side of his face as he wound his arms around her waist and lifted her to him, their lips meeting in a fiery kiss. Nadia curved her body into Steve's and instinctively wrapped herself around him. She let him press his tongue into her mouth and moaned at the feeling, raking her fingers through his hair. Steve tore his lips away and pressed hot kisses on her face and down her neck.

'Nadia…' he panted, making her shiver and drop her head back against the door. Her hands were shaking, but she pushed Steve's coat from his shoulders and it fell to the floor with a muted thud. She started on the buttons of the shirt he wore, her fingers fumbling. Steve's lips latched onto her earlobe and sucked on it, his teeth scraping the sensitive skin.

'God Steve!' she groaned and he pulled back.

'What? Did I hurt you?' he worried and Nadia slipped to the floor with a low sigh. She touched his cheek to reassure him.

'No. You didn't hurt me.'

'But…' he frowned and it deepened when she moved away from him and further into the apartment. She kicked her high heels off and shrugged her coat from her shoulders, draping it over the couch. She turned to face him again, noting that his shirt was half open. Her palms twitched – she wanted to run her hands all over his skin.

'Well?' she asked, backing away from him and heading in the direction of his bedroom. 'You coming?'

Nadia giggled when Steve hurried after her, following her into his bedroom and shutting the door after him. She saw a candle next to the bed on the nightstand and shot a single flame towards it, the room glowing in the warm light. He toed off his own shoes before gathering Nadia into his arms again, their foreheads touching. Their eyes met and Nadia swallowed thickly, her heart pounding against her ribs.

Steve's eyes widened in surprise when she pushed him away, tripping on the end of the bed and falling flat onto the mattress. His shocked expression made Nadia laugh as she crawled over him to straddle his hips. He sat up quickly and kissed her again, all amusement disappearing at the way his lips moulded to hers.

She was still amazed at how good of a kisser he was. Sometimes Steve could make her blush from just chaste kisses, and other times she felt like she would explode from the desire he ignited in her. He used his teeth, tongue and mouth in a language she was quickly becoming familiar with and right now he was saying _I want you._

Nadia made quick work of his shirt, unbuttoning it and sliding it over his shoulders, making sure to trail her fingers lightly over his skin and then tossing it away. The lightest of touches were sometimes the most sensual – this she knew from experience. This time she broke from him to kiss both of his cheeks, then over his jaw and down his neck. She'd never done this to him before and had been wanting to for so long, to see how he would react and she was not disappointed. His grip around her waist tightened as one of his hands went up to the back of her head to tangle his fingers in her hair. She nipped and sucked on the skin at his neck in the same way he had done to her so many times and hummed happily when he groaned. He jerked away from her and she was worried for a moment, before he reached up to her glasses and slipped them from her face, placing them on the nightstand.

'I want to see your face.' He whispered in her ear, scraping his teeth over her ear again and she jumped. His fingers slid the zipper on her dress down and she let him, not breaking eye contact with him the entire time, which only served to make the moment that much more intense. Steve was able to pull her dress over her head easily and his eyes darkened at the sight of her in only a bra and panties. He tossed it over the side of the bed and Nadia pushed Steve back onto the bed, laying her body over his and delighting in the exquisite feeling of skin on skin. Nadia kissed over his collarbone and the front of his chest, her hair falling around her shoulders. Steve's hands weren't staying in one place – they were on her waist, her shoulder blades, on the back of her neck, in her hair, trailing over her thighs, down her back. Everywhere he touched tingled deliciously and she wanted more.

Nadia grinned against his skin when he moaned her name, placing kisses over his stomach until she felt the buckle of his belt against her chin. She sat up again and moved to the buckle, undoing it swiftly and popping the button on Steve's pants open. Nadia moved down the bed and grabbed the edges of Steve's pants and pulled them down over his muscular legs, leaving him in his underwear. She stopped to take his socks off before scrambling back up his body, touching and kissing as she did, smirking when she got a reaction out of him. Usually it was him doing all of the sensual touching, but not tonight.

'Come here.' Steve said hoarsely and she lay her body over his, their noses touching as she held herself up. She could feel him pressing against the inside of her thigh and it made her shiver. Steve traced his fingertips up over her spine, making her breathing hitch, before he rolled her over onto her back. He dragged the covers up from the edge of the bed and lay it over them before dipping his head down to kiss her again.

Steve hitched her leg up around his hip and ground his pelvis into hers. They both groaned loudly at the feeling and Nadia bit Steve's lip. He kissed her skin and over her heaving chest, their breathing ragged and uneven. Steve slipped a hand underneath her back and unlatched her bra, nearly ripping it from her body and then latching his mouth on her aroused breast. She arched up into the touch and fisted her hands in Steve's hair. He hummed against her nipple and it made a fire pool in Nadia's belly. He kissed his way over her chest and gave her other breast equal attention as the first before moving down over her stomach. She jumped at just how sensitive her skin was there, her fingers sliding from Steve's hair as he moved from her grasp and under the covers.

'Steve… Steve what are you doing?' she asked before yelping when his teeth grazed the inside of her thigh, right above her knee. He continued to kiss and drag his teeth over her thigh, leaving Nadia a mewling mess of desire under him, and that was when he switched to her left leg. Her chest was positively heaving under the erotic attention Steve was giving her, Nadia's mind clouding over, her thoughts completely on the man who was currently positioned between her legs.

'Steve…' her voice was raspy, barely more than a moan. She felt him smile against her skin and his head popped up from the covers, grinning devilishly. He was such a boy scout in public but in private Steve was very naughty. She caught his face in her hands and kissed him passionately, their limbs intertwining as they rolled together on the bed. Nadia giggled when Steve's hand tickled her side and she gazed up at him. She pushed aside some of his hair and took a moment to adore him.

'Never leave me.' She whispered, hoping she didn't sound desperate, but the thought of losing the one person in her life that completely understood her scared Nadia more than she cared to admit. Steve caught her wrist, kissing her palm and held her gaze steadily.

'Never.' He promised. She believed him and kissed him again.


	27. Chapter 27

**A.N – Double update because I suck and it's been so long. Please leave a review and tell me what you think, if you have any suggestions, so on and so forth.**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Connecting to the elements was a thrill that Nadia would never get used to. She could feel every movement through the air, feel her blood pumping in her veins, the fire in her belly and the vibrations through the earth. She didn't feel alone when she did this, instead she was a part of something bigger, part of the world in a significant way. But underneath that thrill was the fear. The fear that she would lose control, wreak havoc like she had so many times before. When she was young, she hadn't known how to control her powers, or what triggered it. She had hurt people, had caused natural disasters. Travelling to Asia to learn about her family had been one of the best decisions of her life. There she had learned to master her powers, but had also learned how she could use those powers to help others. Embracing who she was had allowed her to escape the dark hole she had crawled into in her loneliness and isolation. It had saved her life.

The mannequin in front of her was a smouldering mess, sharp rocks and shards of ice protruding from the chest, smoke curling off the neck where she had beheaded the poor mannequin. Her chest was heaving from the hours she had spent training by herself, working to the point where exhaustion threatened to topple her over. She had found that training with others whilst using her powers wasn't beneficial for herself or others come to think of it. She couldn't train to her full extent without hurting people, and most of the SHIELD agents that Fury sent couldn't keep up with her style of combat. People at SHIELD didn't seem to grasp that her powers were an extension of herself and not just a way to fight. She saw some of her techniques in Clint and even in Steve, with the way they used the bow and shield, but it still wasn't the same. She literally became a force of nature when she fought.

Nadia trudged over to the bench, grabbing her water bottle and downing half of it in a few gulps. She heard the door to the gym swing open as she dragged a towel over her face to remove any sweat. Her boyfriend sauntered into the room with easy grace and she smiled at him, her mood lifting immediately at the sight of him.

'I wish you would let me train with you,' Steve said, shrugging his hands into his pockets and surveying the room. 'I could learn something.'

'You wouldn't be able to keep up.' Nadia grinned, knowing that Steve really loved a challenge and relishing the look of annoyance on his face. 'Besides, I wouldn't want to hurt you.'

Steve only rolled his eyes at her teasing and Nadia continued to pack her things. She hoisted her gym bag onto her shoulder before taking his outstretched hand. She held the door open as they stepped into the cool night air.

'Heard anything from Fury about finding Dot's family?' Nadia asked. Steve shook his head, looking as dismayed as she felt.

'Nothing. They won't stop looking, though. Finding her family may give us some new leads into this human experimentation ring that's popped up.'

'It's hardly just " _popped up_ ," Steve.' Nadia snorted, 'Mad scientists have been experimenting on people for centuries. We've only been made aware of it recently, that's all.'

'Strange that something like that would slip under SHIELD's radar.' Steve frowned, the thought deeply troubling him.

'Maybe SHIELD isn't as all-knowing as Fury would have you believe.' She shrugged and hit the crosswalk button. She could see the worry on Steve's face at the statement.

'So, have you started packing yet?' Steve asked, deciding to change the topic. Nadia had gotten the job in DC nearly a week ago and had accepted immediately. Steve had told her that he would move out to DC if she got the job and she had no doubt that he would keep his promise, but she wondered if maybe finding two separate apartments was a little impractical. She was trying to work up the courage to ask if maybe they should just…move in together. But then self-doubt crept in and she started to think perhaps it was too soon in their relationship to be talking about sharing a living space. Sure, they had sleepovers every now and again, but had never even talked about where their relationship was going. Nadia knew deep down that she loved Steve with all her heart, but what kind of future could they have?

'I have. Mostly I've been searching online to see what apartments are available.' She replied, brushing her hair back and clearing her throat. 'It's much cheaper than living here, which is a good thing as I've had to dip into my savings a fair bit to pay my rent since I lost my job.'

'When do you leave?' Steve asked, eyes darting around them as he usually did at night, scanning for every possible threat.

'Next week, probably.' Nadia said, smiling cheekily, 'You can help me move in, maybe even stay over?'

Steve returned her smile. 'We could order a pizza, watch a movie?'

'You know…' Nadia began, deciding to bite the bullet, just to test the waters. 'I was thinking.'

'My genius doctor girlfriend was thinking. What a shocker.' Steve teased. She bumped her shoulder against his arm as they continued to walk down the quiet street, smiling despite her nervousness.

'I was thinking about us moving to DC…and how it seems silly to move into two separate apartments…' Nadia trailed off, her courage beginning to waver.

'Yes?' Steve raised his eyebrows in question.

'I was wondering if maybe we should move – HEY!' Nadia was cut off when somebody violently shoved into the both of them, Nadia stumbling forwards as their hands were unlinked.

Nadia looked around to growl at the stranger for being so rude, but she never got the chance. She watched, stunned, as in the space of three seconds, Steve was injected in the back of the neck with a clear liquid, just as a van pulled up to the curb. Nadia watched with increasing horror as Steve blacked out and was shoved inside the van by three men cloaked in black. Nadia blinked to clear her head and started yelling.

'Hey! Hey what are you doing?' Nadia yelled, grabbing onto one of the men and shoving him away, trying to get to Steve to help him. 'Let him go!'

She jumped onto one of the assailant's back, determined to get to Steve, but was dragged away and pushed onto the sidewalk with considerable force, her head cracking on the pavement. Stars danced in her eyes but she blinked them away. She didn't have time for this, she had to get to Steve. Wobbling on unsteady feet, she watched as the door to the van slid shut and merged into traffic. Grunting, Nadia stumbled out into the street, calling after them to stop but her head felt heavy and throbbed painfully.

'Steve! Steve!' she gasped, ignoring the horns blaring and shouts for her to get out of the street. Her vision was going black and she knew that she didn't have much time, so she dug into her pocket, hitting the speed dial on her phone and bringing it to her ear.

They answered after two rings. 'Romanoff.'

'Steve's been kidnapped.' Nadia said, before slumping to the ground, unconscious.

When Nadia came to, she was in Avengers Tower. There was a cold washcloth on her forehead and the back of her head was numb. Her vision was blurry and black spots danced in her vision, but she blinked them away.

'God! Don't do that!' Pepper Potts cried in shock when Nadia gasped loudly and sat up quickly, ignoring the way her stomach rolled. Clint came hurrying over and put a reassuring hand on Nadia's shoulder, Pepper holding a hand over her heart in fright.

'Where is Steve? Have you found him yet?' Nadia asked, her voice a little slurred and swaying where she sat.

'You need to rest.' Clint said, brow furrowed and trying to ease her back into a lying position.

'No.' Nadia pushed Clint's arm away. 'I need to find Steve.'

Clint grabbed her wrists and held them tightly, eyes glinting determinedly. 'Nadia, you can't move just yet. You have a concussion and your head was bleeding.'

'I don't care, I need to find him.' She tried to cover up the way her voice broke and hoped nobody noticed.

'I know.' Clint replied, face softening, 'And we will.'

'Tony has been looking since you called Natasha. He managed to get footage from a nearby traffic camera, but there hasn't been anything yet.' Pepper said, putting a glass of water in front of Nadia.

'Nat has been out chasing leads.' Clint said before Nadia could ask where the spy was.

'Anything?' Nadia asked, rubbing her temples and sipping the water.

'Not yet. We found you passed out on the sidewalk bleeding. You hit your head pretty hard, but can you tell us anything?' Clint asked as Tony sauntered into the room, his usual boisterous attitude gone, the seriousness of the situation reflected in his stony expression.

'Not really. It happened so quickly.' Nadia said, wracking her brain and putting a hand to her head, hoping to ease the aching. 'It's all a little fuzzy.'

'How many of them?' Tony asked, crossing his arms.

'Five…I think.'

'The car?'

'A van. Generic. Impossible to trace.' Nadia sighed, horror and dread sinking in. 'My god this is a nightmare.'

'Did you get a look at any of their faces?'

'Not really…I was just trying to get to him…' She shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. She'd failed him. The one time he really needed her, and she couldn't help him.

'Hey! Stop that self-blaming crap.' Tony barked at her, making Nadia jump. 'This isn't your fault. We'll find him. JARVIS is looking through the security videos right now to follow the van and get us a location on where they might be.'

'We don't even know who took him, or why.' Clint groaned, standing up and running a hand over the stubble on his chin.

'I know some people,' Nadia said, drawing all eyes to her, 'I can ask around, make a few phone calls and see if anybody has heard something.'

'I hope your leads turn out better than mine,' Natasha's voice rang out, her heeled boots clicking on the floor as she swept into the room, eyes blazing with silent fury. 'The only thing I could find out is what they could have injected him with to knock Steve out.'

'Which is?' Nadia asked, bracing her elbows on her knees and trying to get her head to stop spinning.

'An experimental new serum that's derived from one of the original ingredients that SHIELD was able to get from Erskine's original notes.'

'I thought those notes were destroyed.' Nadia frowned.

'Not all of them and the ones that weren't were coded. It took a while to figure it out.' Tony replied, 'My father did some work on it a few years ago.'

'So, it's a dead end.' Clint said, hands on hips. Nadia got to her feet slowly, wobbling a little bit before clearing her throat.

'I'm going to make a few calls and see what I can find out.'

And she did. She called every person she had ever met in every sort of shady business (most calls were made to federal prisons) but she found nothing. No word on who could have pulled something like this off. It took a lot of skill and resources to kidnap somebody like Steve. He had a strong metabolism that burned through most medications within hours, sometimes minutes depending on the dosage, so any kidnappers would need access to powerful and potent medications. Not to mention, those people would need some serious combat training for when Steve and anybody he was with fought back.

She told all of this to the others, who nodded along with what she said, thoughtful frowns on their faces.

Natasha paced the room, hands on her hips. 'So, we're looking for somebody who is wealthy, well connected and has access to significant resources. Also, due to the fact that we haven't heard any demands for ransom, this isn't about money.'

'Maybe it is…' Clint said suddenly.

'What do you mean?'

Clint explained, 'Every government on the planet, especially the United States, has been wanting Steve to submit to genetic testing to take apart his DNA structure to unlock Erkine's original formula. Anybody who has access to Steve's bloodwork could be able to replicate the super solider serum.'

Nadia caught on to what Clint was saying, 'And they could sell it to the highest bidder.'

Clint sat down heavily, 'We could be talking about a threat to national security.'

'We need to find Steve, _now_.' Natasha growled.

'I think I can help with that.' Tony said, rushing into the room holding a tablet in his hands. 'I had JARVIS follow the van through every street, ATM, private housing and even tapped into cellphone cameras to track the van through New York. It's parked downtown in an office building that is under renovation. It's completely empty with no security, and because it's a construction site, no unauthorised people can get in. Perfect place to take a kidnap victim.'

'Let's go.' Nadia said, 'Suit up.'

'Whoa, wait, you're not going.' Tony said, putting a hand on Nadia' shoulder, eyes full of concern.

'Watch me.' she replied testily.

'You could hurt yourself.'

'You think I'm going to sit around and wait? No way.'

'You're not going.'

'Are you going to try and stop me, Stark?' Nadia snapped, stepping dangerously close to him, eyes blazing. 'Because I'd really like to see you try.'

'I know all your moves, kid.' Tony smirked. 'Besides, you won't make it to the first floor with that concussion.'

'You know nothing about me or what I can do, or what I will do for somebody I love.' Nadia saw with some satisfaction, a glint of fear in Tony's eyes at the implication of what she was capable of. 'Now, you can help me, or you can get the _fuck_ out of my way.'

Tony stared at her for a long moment, eyes calculating before he stepped aside. Nadia stalked past him, fuming that he tried to handle her like a delicate child. She changed into her suit, which felt a little snug around her thighs. She pulled on her gloves and strapped her knives on, taking a deep breath. She touched the star necklace that hung around her neck and made a silent promise to find Steve no matter what she had to do.

A knock broke her train of thought and Nat walked into the room, wearing her usual black catsuit. Her green eyes were wary, which unsettled Nadia more than anything.

'I know you love Steve and you're worried about him.' Natasha said watching as Nadia laced up her boots, 'But have you considered that you might slow us down?'

Nadia sighed. 'I couldn't help him when he needed me. I have to do this, concussion or no concussion.'

Natasha's usual composed mask was slipping and Nadia saw the compassion in her face and the redhead nodded. 'Okay…but you stay behind me.'

'Deal.'


	28. Chapter 28

**A.N – A little sad I didn't get any reviews on the last couple of chapters so if you guys could take a minute to leave behind some feedback that'd be great!**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Three days. It had been three days since Steve had gone missing and Nadia was going crazy with worry. Every lead they had clawed and scraped for turned up nothing. Nadia was alternating between silence and frustrated tears because she didn't know how to deal with the terror, panic and heartbreak. The emotions threatened to overwhelm her and she knew that if anything happened to Steve, she would never forgive herself. He had helped her become an Avenger, to step up and help the people who couldn't help themselves. He had ignited passion and love and tenderness, something she had never had in her life before he had come into it. She couldn't lose him, not now.

'I can't do this anymore.' Nadia cried, throwing down her spoon, which clattered noisily onto the table. 'I'm going insane.'

'We're doing everything we can, Nadia.' Tony pointed out, sipping his black coffee, still a little annoyed at her from the other day when she'd refused to listen to him and she had subsequently collapsed from her concussion. 'Banner is working in the lab upstairs to try and track him down, Fury is in on it too and we've alerted the media. Something will come up.'

'So, we just sit and wait?' She slumped in her chair, putting her face in her hands and scrunching her hair between her fingers. Nadia felt a hand on her back and peeked through her fingers to see Clint frowning at her. His eye was blackened from yesterday, when they had raided a warehouse that they thought Steve was being held in, but they had stumbled on a drug ring instead.

'We _will_ find him.'

'I'm already reaching out to some of my contacts overseas.' Natasha assured Nadia, her usual unreadable expression one of sympathy and worry. 'I should know something by the end of the day.'

'Who the hell are these people?' Pepper muttered, buttering a scone, 'It's like ghosts took Steve.'

Something in Nadia's brain clicked and she whipped her head around. 'What did you just say?'

'I said it's like ghosts took Steve.' Pepper repeated, her forehead furrowing in confusion. Tony turned to Nadia, as if sensing she was onto something.

'That's it.' She breathed, mind racing and her heart pounding in her chest in both excitement and dread. With shaking fingers she pulled out her phone and hit one of the speed dials. 'That's the answer.'

Clint turned to Natasha, 'Any idea what she's on about?'

The redhead shrugged helplessly as Nadia raised the phone to her ear, getting up from her chair and pacing the room touching her hair nervously. The person on the other end picked up after two rings.

'It's me.' She said, without waiting for them to say anything in greeting. 'I need your help. Can you meet me?'

' _You need_ my _help_?' the man on the other end replied, sounding a little smug, ' _You sure that's a good idea?_ '

Nadia sighed, 'I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't important.'

There was a pause before, ' _Central Park, you know the place. Come alone. Twenty minutes_.'

'I'll be there.' Nadia said before hanging up. She immediately ran to grab her coat and began pulling her boots on.

'Who was that?' Pepper asked, voicing what everybody was thinking.

'A ghost.' Nadia replied and at everybody's confused expressions, she amended, ' _The_ Ghost, I suppose.'

'The spy?' Natasha gaped, getting to her feet. 'And you have his phone number, _how_ , exactly?'

'And on speed dial apparently.' Tony observed dryly.

'It's a long story. But who better to find a ghost than another ghost? He could help us find Steve.' Nadia's excitement was bubbling in her stomach to the point where she almost felt nauseous about what she was about to do, but she had no choice. Steve needed her.

'I'm going to need you to explain how you know one of the most dangerous and elusive spies on the planet. I mean, this guy has his hands in every shady thing you can think of. He has a higher kill count than…well… _me_ and three times the amount of contacts.' Nat crossed her arms, getting to her feet.

'Yes, and how do you think government agencies and SHIELD get a lot of the information?' Nadia replied. 'He's meeting me in twenty minutes and if I'm not there on time he won't wait. I need to go.'

'Fine.' Clint said, snatching his coat from the back of the chair, 'You can explain on the way.'

Nadia pursed her lips. 'He told me to come alone.'

'Yeah, like we're letting you go alone.' Tony scoffed, kissing the top of Pepper's head before following Clint out the door. Natasha jerked her head for Nadia to follow and after huffing in annoyance, she did.

Clint and Natasha agreed to keep watch from a distance, choosing to perch themselves on a balcony of a nearby building and using a sniper rifle to keep an eye on things. Tony would be sitting at a nearby café with his armour on hand. They each had an earpiece in to allow them all to communicate, but Nadia sat alone at the chess table, the pieces set up neatly in front of her, fingers tapping the table with impatience.

' _So how do you know this guy_?' Tony's voice rang through the earpiece in Nadia's ear. The doctor sighed, brushing her hair back as she waited anxiously.

'I told you, it's a long story and I don't like talking about it.' Nadia replied, trying to sound firm and glancing around.

' _Well, now I'm even more curious_.'

' _I would like to know how you know this guy, Nadia.'_ Natasha said, _'Even_ I've _never met him_.'

Sighing deeply, aggravated by the whole situation, Nadia swallowed thickly, saying nothing. Glancing at her watch again, she licked her lips and took hold of her necklace, fiddling with the charm as she waited, her mind wandering. She thought about Steve, and about how she was going to ask him to move in with her when they got to DC, and how they had come so far in their relationship. Now that this had happened, she didn't want to hold anything back from Steve anymore. She wanted them to be together, and she knew deep down there would never be anybody else for her. What she was about to do was dangerous, but he was worth it.

A shadow fell across the table and Nadia looked up. He man in front of her had long brown hair and grey eyes so light they were almost silver, dark stubble across a strong jaw and a scar underneath his left eye from where she'd hit him years ago. The Ghost was dressed in a dark duster coat with the collar turned up and heavy boots. He regarded her with a sly smile as he sat down opposite her, one that reminded her of a shark. She saw the weapons he had strapped on under his coat, easy enough to access, but concealed so passers-by wouldn't see them and panic.

' _It that him_?' Tony asked in her ear, but Nadia said nothing, staring intently at the man across from her.

'Sister.' The man greeted with a small incline of his head.

'Brother.' Nadia replied in the same tone. There was silence over the comms system, which suggested that her teammates were in shock.

'Your hair is longer now. It suits you.' He said, switching from English to Bulgarian, a language Nadia had picked up years ago and one that she knew none of the Avengers spoke – not even Nat. 'And you've been busy from what I've heard.'

' _Did she say that was her brother? I thought she was an only child._ ' Tony repeated, shocked.

' _Nadia, explain. Now._ ' Natasha demanded, but Nadia ignored her.

'I don't have time for small talk, Josef.' She replied in the same language, glancing around and leaning forward. 'I need your help.'

'Yes, you said so on the phone. I was surprised to get your call.' Josef's right eyebrow rose. Nadia tucked her hair behind her ear, her brother's gaze unnerving. He had made her promise years ago not to contact him unless it was a life-or-death situation and after he had almost gotten her killed, she'd agreed. What he did was dangerous and if anybody found out that Josef had any kind of family, they would use it against him. But right now, she didn't care about her own safety, she just wanted Steve back.

'You're familiar with Captain Steve Rogers?'

Josef's smile grew. 'I am. He's your boyfriend, if I'm not mistaken.'

Nadia nodded, 'He's been kidnapped.'

Josef's face dropped into a cool, collected mask, which made Nadia worry. 'When?'

'Three days ago. We have no leads, nothing. It's like he just vanished from the face of the earth.'

'And you thought I might know something.' Josef finished for her, and Nadia nodded. Her brother glanced around and Nadia saw his jaw tick. Without saying a word, he gestured to his ear and tapped it. Knowing what he was asking, she reached up and took her earpiece out discreetly and Josef leaned closer to her.

'I did hear something.' He said, this time in English. 'People have been interested in Rogers since he came out of the ice. There are a lot of people who would literally kill for that serum in his veins. People who want to sell it, mass produce it, experiment to make it even better… in the right circles Rogers would be worth millions, dead or alive.'

'Who?'

Josef stared at her for a moment. 'Are you sure you want to do this, Nadia? The kinds of people I'm talking about don't play around.'

'I can take care of myself, Josef. You should know that.'

Her brother smirked and then looked around again, fingers tracing the scar she had given him. 'I know.'

Josef had powers just like she did, but they were different. Where she could shift into the forms of animals, Josef could change his appearance at will, and where she had control of the elements, Josef could teleport from place to place, so long as he knew where he was going. 'Your friends have probably figured out that they can't hear our conversation anymore and are on their way.'

'They don't trust you.' Nadia explained.

'Do you?' Josef asked, staring at her shrewdly.

'As my brother or as a spy?' she replied in the same tone.

Josef nodded slowly and rose from his seat. Nadia's heart nearly jumped from her chest. This was her last chance to find Steve and it was slipping from her grasp.

'Will you help me?' Nadia asked, becoming more desperate by the minute., standing up too. She looked around and saw Tony, Clint and Natasha walking briskly though the park towards them, none of them happy.

'You won't find him. They will kill you before you get close. Forget Rogers. He's a dead man by now.'

Nadia grabbed Josef's arm and he froze. 'I won't leave him.'

Josef brushed her hand off and turned to face her, their faces close as they stared at each other, neither backing down. 'Believe me, it's a suicide mission, even for people like us.'

She scoffed, 'I can handle it.'

Josef sneered, 'This isn't like your little Avenger's missions. This is dangerous.'

'You think I don't know that?' Nadia hissed. 'I would do anything for Steve. I called you, didn't I? We both know that doing that is next to a death sentence for me if the wrong people found out. I would go into hell for him, sacrifice anything for him. Nothing is going to stop me from getting him back, not you, not some mob bosses, not even the Devil himself. So, if you're going to help me, then _help me_ , if not then get out of my way and stop wasting my time.'

Nadia's chest was heaving with emotion by the time she finished and Josef was watching her closely, something like admiration shining in his eyes.

'Little sister is all grown up.' He chuckled, glancing around again. 'Alright, Nadia. I'll help you rescue the soldier. But we do this alone and we do it my way. No one else, and we go now.'

Nadia hesitated, then took his outstretched arm. 'Done.'

She'd teleported with him once before, and she'd nearly been sick. The sheer vertigo of travelling so far and instantaneously was startling. She could feel the wind, her ears popped and darkness surrounded her.

* * *

 _Drip._

 _Drip._

 _Drip._

Steve counted every drop that resounded around his cell. It was pitch black, but he could tell from the echo of the water falling on the floor that the room was large, but he was still chained to the wall, the manacles having long since cut into his skin. Blood trailed down his arms and had dried over time, but the wounds were still open. His face was bruised, one eye swollen shut, and he was pretty sure that he had broken a few ribs. He wasn't sure how much time had passed since he had been kidnapped. He'd been injected every few hours with that serum, which would knock him out all over again and each time he would be in a new place. But the people who had taken him hadn't moved him in a long while. They'd only come in sporadically to give him a few sips of water, but no food.

Nadia would come for him. He was sure of it. He would do it for her, wouldn't rest until she was safe in his arms, and he was sure that she was looking for him right now. God only knew how much he loved her. They had only just started their relationship, really. Nine months wasn't nearly long enough, wasn't close to long enough to be with her. He would be damned if this was it. Because he knew that was a very real possibility. There was every chance that these people who had taken him would kill him at any moment.

His head jerked up when he felt the entire building shake. He felt dust settle on his face as it fell from the ceiling. He frowned.

Shouting sounded from somewhere above him and he turned his head in the direction. He heard gunshots and uproar, followed but what could only be the sounds of battle. His heart started to pound in his chest as he dared to hope, the minutes dragging by so they felt like hours.

There was a rumble and smoke trailed into Steve's cell. He coughed and retched at the smell, eyes watering. Then the door to his cell slid open and bright light flooded into his cell. He turned his head away and winced as his eyes burned.

'Steve!'

He couldn't believe his ears. 'Nadia?' he croaked, his voice hoarse from dehydration. He heard footsteps and felt soft hands on his face, tilting it to peer at her as best he could. He saw behind her that a fire raged, heard screams as people tried to escape and more gunshots. There was a bruise on her cheek and several cuts on her arms, tears in her beautiful eyes but otherwise she looked okay.

'Thank God. I thought I'd never see you again.' Nadia gasped, voice full of emotion.

'You're really here?' he asked as she got up to free him. Perhaps this was a dream, an aftereffect of the drugs. He saw her give a swift kick, and rocks sliced through the thick chains that subdued him. Steve's arms fell limply to his side and he slumped forwards a little at the sudden freedom

'Of course, I am. I'm here to rescue you.' She assured him, slinging his arm over her shoulders and grunting as she hauled him to his feet. He noticed that she was wearing a different suit to the one that Tony had designed for her. Unlike that one, this was all black, sleeker and more sophisticated. She wore a breastplate like her other uniform, but this one was completely black. Over the top was a sling that held dozens of throwing knives, darts and other sharp blades. More than a few of the spots were empty. He saw the hilts of her long daggers poking out from behind her hips and the iconic leaf design that was on her other uniform was stitched with gold and green over her back.

'Aren't…aren't you a little short to be a stormtrooper?' He tried to grin, but his lip split and started to bleed. Nadia huffed a little laugh, smiling up at him.

'You must be alright if you're making jokes.' She said, leading him out of the cell and into the corridor, the flames parting for then as they hobbled through. A man dressed in an army uniform came barrelling down the corridor and Nadia threw a small knife at the man's chest and kept going, hauling Steve through the building.

'Where are the others?' He asked, wondering when Stark was going to fly in and make some witty remark about him getting kidnapped. 'Why are you dressed like that?'

'It's a long story.' Was all Nadia said, which made Steve frown, but he decided to worry about that later. Right now, he felt like he was going to pass out, but he had to keep going.

They somehow made up a flight of stairs and into what looked like a mansion, bodies, blood and shards of ice everywhere. Steve didn't even spare them a second look, gaze fixed on the man in the middle of the room who was wearing a suit similar to Nadia's but also a long duster coat. There were two hand guns in holsters around his waist, one on his thigh, and a dagger exactly the same as Nadia's. Steve didn't doubt that between this mystery man and Nadia, they could storm a stronghold, kill everyone and only escape with a few scratches.

'We have to get out of here. They've got reinforcements coming.' The man said to Nadia, sheathing his own dagger and walking towards them. Steve tried to stand up a little straighter. The man pointed at Steve with his thumb. ' _This_ is Captain America?'

'And you are?' Steve's usual politeness leaving him.

'Huh…I thought you'd be taller.' He grinned at Steve, who in fact towered over the man in black.

'Uh…Steve this is Josef…my brother.' Nadia shifted uncomfortably and Steve raised his eyebrows at her.

'I thought you didn't have any family?'

'I asked her to say that.' Josef explained quickly. 'If anybody knew we were related, then some not-so-nice people would come for Nadia to try to get to me.'

Something clicked in Steve's brain. 'You're that spy…The Ghost?'

Josef smirked, the mirror image of Nadia when he did that. 'You've heard of me.'

'I'd love to do the whole family get together, guys, but we really have to leave.' Nadia's voice was strained, and Steve noticed that there was what appeared to be a bullet wound in her upper left shoulder, which was bleeding profusely. Josef seemed to notice too, because his joking demeanour vanished and he became serious. He slung Steve's other arm around his shoulder and together the Paolera siblings dragged Steve through the mansion quickly, stepping over rubble and dead bodies as they went.

Steve hissed when he saw all the casualties. He knew Nadia hated killing, but the fact that these were the people who had kept him prisoner and tortured him, he felt little sympathy for them.

They stumbled out the front entrance, the doors lying in broken shards at the bottom of the steps. Steve could hear the _CHOP-CHOP-CHOP_ of a helicopter nearby and knew they needed to leave.

'Alright, I hope you're not squeamish, Captain, because this won't be very pleasant.' Josef said, stepping forwards and gripping Nadia's free hand tightly and clapping a hand on Steve's shoulder. The three disappeared into darkness.


	29. Chapter 29

**A.N – Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! Please keep them coming, they keep me motivated.**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Twenty-Nine

When Steve came-to, the first thing he became aware of was the sharp pain in his chest. The second was that he couldn't open his left eye. The third was an obnoxious beeping sound that seemed to be getting louder and louder. By looking around, he gathered he was in a hospital room and an upscale one too. He tried to sit up, but fell back against the pillows when pain ripped through his body and he groaned.

'About time you woke up. We were getting ready to call it and then donate your body to science.' Tony smirked from Steve's bedside, the TV remote in one hand and his phone in the other.

'Where am I?' Steve winced at the sound of his gravelly voice.

'Medical wing in the Tower.' Tony said, locking his phone and putting it in his pocket.

'What day is it? How long was I gone?' Steve wondered, unsure of how long he had been kidnapped due to being in and out of consciousness.

'Wednesday. You've been missing for over a month.'

'A _month_?!' Steve gasped. His vision began to adjust to the brightness of the room, and he noticed Nadia lying awkwardly in an armchair, fast asleep. Her left arm was in a sling and her hair was braided over her shoulder. Her face was scratched and her knives were lying in a heap on the floor.

'I was wondering when you'd notice her over there.' Tony said, mouth curling upwards a little bit in distaste. 'She hasn't left your side since she pulled you out of that hell-house. Dragged you into the Tower right off the street, both of you covered in blood and dust. Scared the staff on the first three floors half to death.'

'Is she alright?'

Tony shrugged and leaned back in his chair. Steve got the feeling that Tony wasn't very happy with Nadia for some reason. 'She's in a lot of trouble, your girl.'

'What do you mean?'

'She's been busy ever since you went missing. Ditched the rest of us to traipse around the world with her brother looking for you and leaving a trail of dead bodies behind, which, by the way, I've had to clean up. The government is a bit cranky with her right now for breaking about six international laws. They want her held accountable for her actions. They're still deciding what charges they want to file against her, some even want her locked up.'

'Charges? She saved my life!'

'She broke the law.' Tony said, looking impressed for a few fleeting seconds. 'I never thought she had it in her, to be honest.'

'You break the law every day.' Steve pointed out.

Tony frowned. 'That's different.'

'How?'

'My suits can't level an entire continent, or unleash a tsunami, or command the entire animal population. Nadia is dangerous and the world is starting to learn just how dangerous. She's shown people that she isn't afraid to go to any measures to protect the people she cares about. I can name about four different government agencies off the top of my head who want her locked up. Including SHIELD.'

'I'm just as dangerous as she is.' Steve glared. He knew that was a bit of an exaggeration, since Nadia's powers far outstripped his own.

'You're human. She isn't.'

'And that makes a difference?'

'Yes. She's not like the rest of us. Even Thor is genetically similar to us but Nadia…she's on a whole other level that we don't even come close to. She keeps her powers under control a lot of the time, she's learned how to harness them to do the minimal amount of damage but if she ever lost it…succumbed to mind control…' Tony actually looked scared for a moment, and that resonated with Steve more than anything. People were still genuinely afraid of Nadia, despite all that she had done to prove that she was a good person, that all she wanted was a normal life and to help others.

'That won't happen.'

'You don't know that.'

'Stop trying to control people, Tony. They aren't machines.' Steve snapped.

'Good thing too. Because if she was a machine, she'd be in a chop shop by now. Or worse.'

'Why are you telling me this?' Steve wondered, trying to keep his temper under control.

Tony took on the appearance of a parent lecturing their misbehaving child. 'Because this is just the beginning. More people like Nadia are popping up all over the world every day and SHIELD doesn't know how to keep up with it all, and a lot of these people don't want to sit around and have a picnic. How long do you think it will be before Nadia is the one who disappears, but this time we can't find her? How long until people come for her because they're afraid of what she can do?'

'We will protect her.'

'We will. She's one of us.' Tony sighed, 'I'm just saying…Nadia is dangerous and pretending she isn't won't do you any favours.'

Steve had had enough. 'I know how powerful she is, Tony.' He snarled, 'I know what she can do and I know that it terrifies her more than you can imagine. She knows she's capable of being a monster, just like the rest of us. She just chooses not to be.'

Tony stared at Steve for a long moment, eyes narrowed and calculating. Steve knew that Tony had a point, that there was truth in his words, but it confused him how anybody could see Nadia as a monster when she tried her hardest to do the right thing every single day.

They fell into a tense silence, neither of the men looking at the other, choosing instead to watch the television for a while. A nurse came in to check Steve's vitals and give him a once over. She told Steve that he'd be okay to leave the next few days if all his tests came back alright.

Nadia stirred where she slept and yawned, rubbing her eyes tiredly, her glasses falling into her face awkwardly. She sat up and straightened them, blinking tiredly before her eyes landed on Steve. He tried to smile at her but his lip was split and the movement hurt.

'Steve!' She gasped and his heart sang at hearing her voice. She surged to her feet and tripped on the blanket that had bunched at her feet. Ignoring her moment of clumsiness, she took his hand and kissed a spot on his cheek that wasn't bruised. 'How do you feel?'

'Okay.' He replied, looking her over and noting with distaste that there was a bandage peeking out from under her t-shirt, covering her shoulder where she had been shot. 'Are you?'

'I'm fine,' she replied with a small smile, smoothing down his blankets unnecessarily. Steve saw Tony roll his eyes and get to his feet.

'I'm going to leave before she decides to climb on top of you.' He muttered before stalking from the hospital room. Nadia sighed and looked at Steve sadly.

'He's mad at me. Don't take it personally.'

'Oh?' He said as she sat on the bed next to him.

'I didn't exactly…Josef was my only hope of finding you, and he works alone. I couldn't bring the others along. They would have asked too many questions and they would have slowed us down.'

'So, you ditched the group?'

Nadia tipped her head from side to side. 'If you wanna phrase it that way, then I guess so, yes.'

'Josef is that guy you were with when you rescued me.' It wasn't a question.

'Yes…' Nadia shifted uncomfortably and sighed again, taking off her glasses to rub her eyes. She put them back on and continued. 'He's a spy, _the_ spy really. I met him years ago in a village in China, when I was tracking down a lead about my parents. At first, I didn't know who he was. He trained me in martial arts, how to control my powers…we became close. Then I found out that he was my brother, and that he'd been keeping track of me for years.' Nadia smirked a little bit, remembering how she'd hit him for keeping that from her. 'He couldn't contact me before because if anybody found out that Josef and I were family…I would be dead within a week.'

Steve lay back against the pillows, all the pieces falling into place. 'Which is why you didn't tell me.'

'I never told anybody. The more people who knew, the more danger we both were in. Anyway, for a while we kept in close contact but then… we were tracked down by Russian spies looking for Josef and they attacked. We ran but they launched an airstrike. We were both nearly killed, just because someone had seen Josef speaking to me. So, we both agreed to go our separate ways, to not contact one another unless it was life or death. I haven't seen him in nearly two years.'

'But you called him?' Steve shrugged helplessly, astounded as to why she would put herself in danger like that.

'Yes.'

'Why?'

Nadia looked him right in the eye and took his hand. 'Because I love you, and I was _not_ going to lose you.'

Steve shook his head, touched and annoyed that she had put herself in harm's way for him. 'You shouldn't have risked your life for mine.'

'You would have done the same for me.' Nadia smiled gently and Steve didn't dispute it because he knew it was true. Guilt rose like a tsunami in his chest at the thought that she could have been hurt because of him.

'Please don't do that again.' Steve said, taking her hand. 'I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you because of me.'

Nadia sighed but didn't promise anything, which both annoyed and amused Steve. They sat there in silence for a moment before Nadia suddenly burst into tears. Steve immediately became alarmed as tears slipped down Nadia's face and her shoulders shook.

'I'm sorry,' she spluttered, wiping her cheeks with her free hand. 'It's just that I thought I'd never see you again. I thought you were dead.'

Steve took her hand and squeezed it gently before pulling her closer to him. He shuffled over on the hospital bed as much as he could before she tucked herself into his side, sniffling and wrapping her arms around his waist.

'I'm not going anywhere doll.' He said, kissing the top of her head. 'I promise.'

They were silent for a few moments, their eyes on the television but neither of them really watching the cartoon.

'I'm in a lot of trouble, you know.' Nadia said suddenly.

Steve already knew this from what Tony said earlier. 'Because of what you did?'

He felt her nod. 'I…I killed people, Steve. It was life or death, but it still keeps me up at night. I don't regret doing it because you needed me, you had been kidnapped and beaten and starved. But just because you don't regret doing something doesn't mean you don't feel guilty for doing it. Does that make sense?'

Steve considered for a few seconds before replying, 'I understand. I don't like killing either, nobody with a soul does. But sometimes it is necessary, sometimes we have no choice, sometimes…'

'I'm going to have to lay low for a while.' Nadia murmured. 'Tony said that what I did attracted a lot of unwanted attention. Most people think I'm a hero for going after you, but I broke quite a few rules to do it.'

'Whatever happens, I'll be here to support you. Besides, what's the worst that could happen?'

* * *

As it turned out, the worst thing that Capitol Hill could think of was something that nobody had even considered. They dropped all charges against Nadia due to the fact that she brought multiple human trafficking and child experimentation organizations to justice, but she had broken the law to do it. So, instead of sending her to prison where she would be monitored and submit to genetic testing for her powers, they chained Nadia in a different way – they revoked her medical license. Which meant that the job she had been offered in DC was now out the window. Nadia had been heartbroken to say the least, but it was still better than being in a prison.

Steve was released from the hospital the day after Nadia's sentence had been passed and within two weeks was almost fully recovered, thanks to Nadia's constant care. Without waiting, they packed their things and moved to Washington DC. They had both decided that neither of them wanted to waste a single second of being together – not with how quickly it can all be taken away.

Steve reported directly to Fury at the Triskelion and visited Peggy at least once a week. While his visits made her extremely happy, Steve would always return to the apartment gloomy. Nadia fared no better. Unemployed and with no hope of getting a job because her license to practice had been revoked, she moped around the apartment and spent most of her time training.

He glanced up when the door closed and heard the jingle of keys rattling in the bowl before Nadia walked into the sitting room, grocery bags hanging off her arms. Steve immediately jumped up to help her and she gave him a grateful smile. She started to unpack all the food, sometimes flying up into the air to place items on particularly high shelves.

'How was the market?' Steve asked, setting the coffee to brew.

'Good. Although about six different types of birds followed me around for the better part of an hour.' Nadia said, frowning when Steve chuckled. He found the fact that animals followed her around like she was some sort of Disney Princess adorable.

'Ah good,' He said spotting the mail on the counter and rifling through. 'You brought this up. Anything in here for you?'

'No,' she sighed, 'I already checked. Without my license, I'm useless. I won't be able to work in medicine without one.'

He winced at the pain her voice and put a hand on her shoulder. Steve's eye was caught by an envelope that was different from the others. It was made of thick, expensive paper with neat writing on the front. Nadia seemed to have noticed him staring.

'What is that?' she asked as Steve flipped the envelope over and began to open it.

'No idea,' he muttered, sensing as Nadia came to peer over his arm as he slid an invitation out.

"' _Captain America Wing?"_ ' Nadia read aloud, eyebrows raised, 'I didn't know the Smithsonian was doing a wing based on you.'

'They contacted me months ago for permission, but I completely forgot about it.' He said honestly. 'It's addressed to both of us.'

'How did they know we were living together?' Nadia frowned, taking the envelope from Steve.

'Maybe they just assumed that you would be my date to this shindig.' Steve said, putting an arm around Nadia's shoulders. 'Everyone knows you're my girl, after all.'

He was pleased when he saw her lips twitch. 'Is this a good idea? I mean, it'd be our first big public appearance since you went missing and since I lost my job.'

'I think it's a great idea.' Steve said, slipping his free hand around her waist. 'We can present a united front. Besides, I'll get to dance with you again.'

Nadia laughed, 'You hate dancing!'

'Not with you.'

She relented with a smile, 'Alright then. Who knows? It might be fun.'


	30. Chapter 30

**A.N – You wanted it, you demanded it, I delivered…hopefully! HUGE shoutout to tweetsnbleets for her help on this chapter and for helping me edit! Let me know if you like it and leave a review.**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Thirty

Nadia shifted nervously in her seat, patting her hair down and making sure her lipstick wasn't smudged. She was going to start tapping her hand on her leg when Steve got impatient and took her hand in his and then pressed his lips to her knuckles.

'Stop worrying. It will be fine.' He said, the city rolling by the windows of the luxury car that the museum had sent for them both. She sighed.

'How does this not get to you?' She wondered, turning to examine him critically with her dark grey eyes. Nadia had held back laughter when he spent half an hour in the bathroom making sure he was freshly shaved and that his hair was sitting correctly.

'It's not my first rodeo.' Steve grinned and Nadia couldn't help but smile back. He saw flashes of cameras and the car stopped. Hordes of paparazzi were lining up to take their pictures and reporters with microphones to document the occasion. Glancing around, Steve saw the other members of the Avengers already walking the carpet, looking glamourous and answering questions.

'Here we go.' Nadia said and Steve opened the door. He stepped out first and buttoned up his suit jacket before turning to help Nadia out of the car. Once she was on her feet and he was sure she wouldn't trip over in her heels, Steve shut the door and the car drove away. Nadia immediately tucked her arm under his and they made their way forward, smiling, waving and pausing every few steps so that people could take pictures. Nadia had never felt more uncomfortable in her life, and the smile she had plastered on her face was a little strained.

Steve leaned down and whispered in her ear, his arm slipping around her waist. 'Relax, please doll. I've got you, and you look gorgeous.'

And she did. She looked like a movie star. She was wearing a strapless white dress that clung to every curve before flaring out at her knees gently. Her lips were painted red and her hair was up in a gracefully messy bun. She looked like a million bucks and he couldn't believe she was here with him.

'You're staring at me.' She muttered with knowing smile, face turned towards the cameras that flashed in their faces, reporters calling their names.

'I caught you staring at me before we left.' He retorted as they moved down the carpet towards where Tony and Pepper were standing.

She blushed prettily. 'Well, you do look handsome, Steve. Everyone says so.'

'I'm fairly sure people are looking at you more than me, doll.'

Nadia laughed. 'Yeah, right.'

'Captain! Captain! How do you feel about the exhibit?' One reporter asked, shoving a microphone into Steve's face.

'Uh, well I think it is a great way to honour the hard work of the SSR, who strove towards ending the war at all costs.' He replied diplomatically.

'There's a featured section around the Howling Commandos, do you think it does justice to your comrades?'

'I haven't seen the exhibit.' He said honestly, a pang of pain running through his chest. 'And I wish they were here to see it with me.'

Steve turned to look at Nadia when she squeezed his middle gently, her eyes shining with support. He turned away from the reporters, letting Nadia lead him away by the hand and up the carpet. He stopped to answer a few more questions about the exhibit, how working with SHIELD was going and how things were going between him and Nadia. Some reporters asked her how she was doing since her epic fall from grace, who she was wearing and some even boldly asked personal questions about her relationship with Steve. When they eventually escaped the parasites and made it inside, the exhibit knocked the breath from Steve.

The room was crowded with people, the general chatter rising to a roar due to so many people being in one room. Hanging from the ceiling was model aeroplanes used during combat and framed posters from Steve's old shows hung on the walls. There was a mural with the Howling Commandos featuring all their old uniforms, footage shot from the war…even an interview with Peggy. What hit him the hardest was the dedication to Bucky, a large photo of the man staring back at Steve, haunting him. He couldn't stop staring at it, even after he had moved away. Hours later, after mingling and talking to more reporters than he ever wanted to again, Steve found himself standing in front of Bucky's monument, eyes reading the words of the dedication over and over again, sighing in silent grief.

'So, that's what he looked like.' Tony sidled up to Steve, cradling a glass of what looked like bourbon. 'I've always wondered.'

'You know him?' Steve asked, not really surprised.

'I know of him. My dad never used to shut up about you and the good old days in the war. He mentioned Barnes a few times.' Tony glanced sideways at Steve. 'Said he was a good man.'

'He was the best man I've ever known.' Steve's reply was honest and for some reason, saying it made him feel better. Tony took a large gulp of his drink and shook his head.

'How are you handling all of this?' Tony asked, gesturing around them, 'It can't be easy. PTSD and all.'

Steve raised his eyebrows at the acronym. 'What?'

'Post-traumatic stress disorder?' Tony elaborated, 'I had a bad stint with that after New York. It's pretty common amongst soldiers, so I'm told.'

'I'm fine, Stark.' Steve said, eyes landing on his date and deciding he had had enough of this conversation. 'It's hard losing people you went through hell with, but I'm glad that they're being honoured the way they deserve.'

'Honoured for killing people?'

'Honoured for serving their country.' Steve snapped. 'You weren't there. You've never fought in a war so you don't get to pass judgement with your holier than thou attitude.'

Tony opened his mouth to make a snarky retort but was cut off when Nadia cut in. 'Whoa! What's going on over here?'

'Nothing.' Tony answered, smiling tightly at Steve, 'I was just leaving.'

They watched him walk into the crowd and only when he was completely out of sight did Nadia turn to Steve and raise her eyebrows. 'What was that all about?' she asked.

'Just Stark being himself.' He replied darkly.

'He can be a real prick sometimes. He's a good man, but sometimes…' she trailed off with a shake of her head. She rubbed his arm comfortingly.

'Can we go home?' Steve asked, feeling overwhelmed suddenly. Nadia looked surprised for a moment, and he didn't blame her. They'd been at the event for less than three hours. They had mingled and walked around the exhibit, sampled all the hor d'oeuvres and had taken more photos than either wanted to admit.

'Sure.' She agreed. 'Let's go. The food here sucks anyway.'

'Always thinking with your stomach.'

'Cheeseburgers on the way home?' She suggested as they left the party quietly, not bothering to say any goodbyes. It may have been rude, but both of them wanted to get away without being hounded by city officials and " _important_ " people.

'Definitely.' Steve grinned, slipping out of his jacket and offering it to her. She gratefully accepted it, shivering in the cool night air as they made their way to the curb, signalling a taxi. Most of the reporters had gone, but a few still lingered, probably deterred by the cool night air. They made their way home, even stopping for cheeseburgers and milkshakes to go. By the time they arrived back at their apartment, Steve was in a much better mood.

He watched as Nadia swept into the apartment and lay his jacket over the back of the couch in a way so that wouldn't wrinkle, moving up to take her earrings out. Damn he was lucky.

'I love you.' He said suddenly, and she turned around eyes wide. 'You know that, right?'

'Of course I do.' She said, coming towards him. 'I love you too.'

She stood on her toes to kiss him, even though she was in high heels. He held onto her when she tried to pull away and when she stepped back she looked a little punch-drunk. She put her hands on his arms to steady herself.

'Are you alright?' She asked, 'You were acting so strangely before.'

'It was just the exhibit and Stark pushed my buttons…' He sighed. 'I got overwhelmed, I suppose.'

'That's a perfectly acceptable reaction.' Nadia replied, reaching up to fiddle with his tie. 'To be completely honest, I was worried about you.'

'Why?'

'You never got to deal with what the war did to you, Steve, not to mention what you went through with your…your kidnapping. You never talk about it unless it comes up and I respect your privacy. But please don't pretend that you're fine with it all. You're still grieving for Bucky and that's okay. You're still recovering from a brutal attack and that's okay too.' She touched his cheek gently. 'Just let me know what I can do to help you.'

'I honestly don't know what I would do without you.' Steve confessed, blue and grey eyes locked.

'You probably wouldn't understand any of Clint's _Harry Potter_ jokes.' She reasoned with a cheeky glint in her eye, and Steve smirked, pulling her in closer to kiss her again. She wound her arms around his neck and Steve responded to her kisses fervently.

While it started out innocently enough, the heat between them started to build. Steve's hands pressed against her back, tangled in her hair and she clung onto him, pulling him against her. He pressed his lips to her neck and Nadia's head fell back, a gasp escaping her lips. He hadn't realized that he'd been walking until he felt the wall under his hand. Nadia dragged his lips back to hers and Steve couldn't help the little moan that left him. Her hands were warm against his hips and he struggled out of his shirt and tie, Nadia running her hands over every inch of skin she could reach. Her nails scraped over the front of his chest and Steve had to try really hard not to lose it then and there.

A little more roughly than he meant to, Steve unzipped Nadia's dress and pulled it off her. Her surprise shone through in her eyes but she didn't look angry. She even giggled a little bit before kissing him again, raking her fingers through his hair. Steve pulled away and started pressing kisses down her neck, under her jaw and then over her collarbone. He skimmed over the tops of her breasts and smirked when she jumped at his tongue darting out to taste the flesh of her stomach. No time in Steve's life had it ever been so erotic. She was standing there, pressed up against the wall in nothing but her underwear, with him on his knees before her. He heard her head hit the wall when he kissed exactly where he wanted to be through her knickers.

'Steve…' she moaned breathlessly and Steve stood up, kissing her again before scooping her up into his arms. He blindly made his way into their bedroom and kicked the door shut. They fell onto the bed in a tangle of limbs, the sounds of kissing, gasps and breathy moans filling the room. She'd hooked her legs around his middle and her hands were trailing over his chest and back. Her touches made him feel like sparks were dancing over his skin.

He kissed her neck and throat, taking care to nip on the spot that made Nadia arch her back into him. His free hand skimmed over her covered breasts and grasped her hips, urging her slightly to keep up with the way they were both gently rocking against each other. He hissed when her fingers brushed over the bulge in his pants as she unbuckled his pants. Taking a moment to breathe, he sat up and kicked off his slacks, his shoes and socks too. When he turned back to her, she'd slipped between the sheets and was watching him intensely. He soon joined her and immediately realized that while he'd been gone, she had stripped completely naked.

'Is this okay?' He murmured quietly, meeting her gaze and seeing the lust in her eyes. For a split second, she looked uncertain, but it vanished as quickly as it came.

'More than okay.' She said, pulling him close to her and running a finger over his side. There was only one layer between them now, his boxers, and Steve was very aware of that fact right now.

'I meant…' Steve swallowed thickly when the sheet dipped as she moved to press kisses over his neck and her bare back was exposed, 'I meant this. Doing this.'

'Damn, Steve, I've been waiting for this.' She murmured huskily in his ear, which only served to turn him on more. 'I want you. All of you. Here. Now.'

As she'd been talking her hand had slipped down over the front of Steve's body and stopped at his groin, brushing her fingers over him.

Steve groaned and rolled over so that she was under him. In a passionate frenzy, he kissed and touched everywhere he knew Nadia loved. They'd fooled around together before, had learned exactly where each other liked to be touched, kissed, even where to bite down. It wasn't long until Nadia was panting under him and shifting her hips upwards, looking for some kind of release and only when she nipped at Steve's ear particularly hard and groaned his name, did Steve let her slide his boxers off.

They were both completely naked, grinding against each other and kissing frantically. Steve was aware that Nadia had never gone this far with any man and so when the time came, he eased into her gently, thankful for the extensive foreplay they had done. He had to grit his teeth at the feeling, Nadia's fingers tugging on his hair making it more intense. The look on her face was priceless and so he pressed forwards a little. At her small gasp, he stopped and waited, each of them reaching for the other, their hands intertwining tightly. He wasn't all the way yet, but he wasn't all that concerned about himself right then – not when Nadia was in pain.

After a minute or two, Nadia sighed, 'It's not that bad.'

'You alright, doll?'

'Yeah.' She nodded, moving her hips slightly, 'I think so.'

Steve nodded and took that as permission to continue, so he pulled back out and slowly eased back into her again and he groaned – loudly. He couldn't help it, she was just so warm and wet and so freaking tight. She was raising her hips to meet his now, and was kissing him too, winding her arms around him to pull him even closer to her as he thrust in and out of her slowly.

Again.

And again.

And again.

He went harder, faster at her urging, gasping and groaning along with her. Nadia's nails raked down his back and she squeezed his behind, his mind completely blank except for what his body could immediately register; her breath on his cheeks as she gasped beneath him, her legs around his hips as he moved inside her, the smell of her perfume mixing with sweat, the look on her face when he hit a particularly sensitive spot and perhaps his favourite, the way she said his name over … and over … and again.

'Steve, I'm…Steve…Oh god…' she moaned, titling her head back, just as her walls clenched around him and her orgasm consumed her. The sensation was completely sexy and seeing her come undone was the most beautiful thing he'd ever witnessed. It spurred him on and he continued to thrust into her as she rode out her orgasm, feeling closer to his own release.

'Nadia…Nadia…' he chanted as she panted and gasped beneath him, her hands and lips wandering over every inch of him she could reach. He was getting closer, his hips jerking more erratically and he wanted her to come with him. He reached between their bodies and touched his thumb to the sensitive nub at Nadia's core.

She jumped, 'Shit…Steve…' she cried, trying to squirm away from him but he kept rubbing, keeping in time with the thrusts of his hips. Her legs tightened around his waist as her moans got louder and louder.

He was so close now, he wanted – needed – her to come, _now_. 'Come on, doll…come with me, Nadia…' he grunted as he thrust into her again and smirked in satisfaction when she cried out not a moment later. He thrust twice more before Steve himself came, calling out Nadia's name as he did, riding out their orgasms together. He slumped forwards onto the bed and Nadia's arms immediately encircled him, both of them panting and shivering. Her fingers traced circles on his back as they came down from their highs, and when Steve had regained his composure, he lifted his head up from her shoulder and kissed her tenderly. Rolling onto their sides to face one another, they stayed in each other's arms, the sheet tangled around their hips.

'We definitely have to do that again.' Nadia gasped.

'What? Now?' Steve laughed. 'Give me a minute, doll.'

She giggled and rolled onto her stomach to see him better. She brushed his hair from his forehead and gave him a look so tender it filled his heart to the point that he felt it might break.

'I love you.' She said softly.

'I know.' Steve whispered, holding her close to him. 'Thank you for tonight. For…being there.'

'Of course.'

'I'm so grateful for you, you know?' He said, 'That I met you, that you gave a crap about a scarred soldier from an ice block.'

'I'm grateful for you too. That you've stayed by my side through losing my job, all the media scandals and the craziness that seems to follow me around.'

'We're in this together.'

'Good.' She said, tracing a finger over his chest. 'So…has it been a minute yet?'

She giggled when Steve rolled on top of her with a growl.


	31. Chapter 31

A.N –

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Thirty-One

Nadia woke up feeling cold. Rolling over in the bed, she grasped for the covers and tried to pull them towards her, but Steve had bunched them up around himself. Sighing, she rolled out of bed and got dressed unhurriedly, staring at Steve the entire time. He looked so peaceful in sleep. Like he was just an ordinary man with no horror, no pain. She almost wished that he wasn't so burdened by the past, but then again, if that were so, he wouldn't be the man she loved.

Sighing, she left the room to let him sleep and decided to start on breakfast, although it was past twelve now, so she supposed it would be lunch instead. She smiled to herself as she got eggs out of the fridge. She and Steve had stayed up nearly all night talking, making love and cuddling. She nearly giggled as the memories of the night came flooding back.

Humming to herself, Nadia pranced around the kitchen as she prepared lunch, cooking eggs, bacon and was just starting on the pancakes when Steve walked into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes and his boxers riding low on his hips. Her breath hitched at the sight and her cheeks reddened.

'Morning.' He greeted, voice husky from sleep.

'Good morning.' She replied a little breathlessly. He kissed her lips sweetly and then leaned over to snatch a piece of bacon off the plate next to the stove. She swatted his hands away and he chuckled at her.

'What's all this?' He asked, gesturing to the feast she had prepared.

'Can't a girl just do something nice for her man?' She teased.

'Of course,' Steve said, snaking an arm around her waist and resting his head against her shoulder. 'Speaking of nice – last night…'

'Mmm?' She smiled when his hands squeezed her waist a little.

'Well, nice doesn't seem to cover it.' He murmured in her ear. She shivered at the memory of him saying some things in her ear late last night and bit her lip. 'Although I do think I ripped your dress a little.'

'I didn't mind.' She said, turning around and handing his fully laden plate to him. 'I don't know if you noticed, Captain, but I rather enjoyed myself last night.'

He took the plate and smirked at her. 'I think the whole building knows, doll.'

She rolled her eyes. 'As if you were any better.'

Laughing, Steve moved all the food to the living room and they sat down together, turning on the TV. When they had finished, Nadia snuggled a bit closer to Steve and closed her eyes as he fiddled with her hair.

'I could stay here forever.' She muttered. Steve heaved a big sigh. 'Steve?'

'Yeah doll?'

'What do you want? For us?' The question had been gnawing away at her for weeks but she hadn't been able to work up the courage to ask him until this very second. They were living together, they had just slept together, it only made logical sense that she should ask since Steve had never really made his intentions towards her clear. She knew he loved her but she needed to know if he ever thought about a future for them.

'You mean in the future?' He asked, leaning forwards so that they could look at each other. 'I just want to be myself, I suppose. I want to serve my country, to try and make the world a better place and I know I can do that, but I know I need you in my life. I know that I want to wake up with you every single morning and travel with you, make memories and a life together. I know it isn't much of an answer…but all I want for us is to be together.'

Nadia stared at him wide eyed for a moment, a lump in her throat at the sincerity in his voice. She crawled into his lap slowly and deliberately, winding her arms around his neck. 'That's good enough for me, Captain.'

He bumped his nose against hers, hands coming up to hold her waist. 'May I kiss you, Miss Paolera?'

'That's Doctor Paolera, actually.' Nadia smiled and sank into the kiss he gave her. She found it adorable that a lot of the time, Steve would ask permission before kissing her. When his mouth tilted to the side and he ran his tongue over her mouth, she lost all train of thought and soon they were making out on the couch, grinding against each other in a way that made Nadia tingle all over. She jumped when her phone beeped on the table and with a groan, she broke the kiss and leaned over to grab it. Steve grunted in protest when she sat up to read the message.

'Doll, just ignore it.'

'It's from Nat. It could be important.' She said, staring at the screen for a moment before she smiled. Steve raised an eyebrow at her.

'What?'

'Oh, it's a picture.' Nadia turned the screen towards him. It was of a small tiger cub playing with a ball of yarn. Natasha had also included a short message – _If you were a tiger, would you play with yarn too?_

Steve chuckled at the message and Nadia typed out a quick reply. 'You know,' he said, 'I've never seen one of those before.'

'A tiger?' Nadia asked, 'You've seen me shift into one before.'

'You don't count, doll.' He said gently so she wouldn't be offended.

'Well…they have tigers in the zoo. Why don't we go?' she suggested, winding her arms around his neck. 'We can make a day out of it.'

'I've never been to a zoo.'

'Well, then it's settled.' Nadia jumped up from Steve's lap and took her glasses off, setting them on the table. 'But first, a shower.'

'Alright. I'll start to clean up here.' Steve said, standing up and starting to gather their plates from their earlier meal.

'Don't you want to join me?'

Steve hesitated all of four seconds before he put the plates back down and followed Nadia into the bathroom.

* * *

After a shower and another subsequent tumble in the bed, Nadia and Steve were on their way to the zoo. Her arms were wound around his waist as he drove his motorcycle through the streets, her scarf whipping out behind her. This was among her favourite things; riding on Steve's bike, her arms around him and the purr of the engine as they drove. It was peaceful in a strange way, like the entire world melted away around them.

She was jolted out of her thoughts when Steve pulled into the parking lot and turned off the engine. There were quite a few people around and Nadia wondered for a second if anybody would recognise them, but with Steve wearing sunglasses and a hat, and with her hair up and sunglasses on, they looked like an ordinary couple out for a nice day.

After paying admission and grabbing a map from a nearby stand, Nadia looked up at Steve, who was standing with his hands in his pockets and looking around with his mouth open slightly.

'What do you want to see first?' she asked, smiling. He reminded her of a child in an amusement park with his expression. Steve took the map from her and had a long look before deciding that they should just walk around the whole zoo. So, they set off hand in hand, looking through the reptile house, through to the aquatic animals and even getting to feed fruit to elephants.

The elephants had all simultaneously looked at Nadia when she'd approached and it made her feel strange. Elephant eyes were so full of ancient wisdom that she was captivated by their gaze. All the animals in the zoo they had come across reacted to Nadia's presence. It was something she was used to as they had done this as long as she could remember. It was almost as though they recognised her as one of them in their own way.

The longer they spent there, people started to catch on to who they were and soon parents were asking for them to take pictures with their children. They did so willingly and with more patience than Nadia thought she possessed. She'd huffed when a young woman snaked her arm right around Steve as she posed for a photo with him. She couldn't really blame them for finding Captain America attractive, but it still irked her that women gawped and tried to grope at him whenever they got the chance.

They'd managed to make it into the Big Cat House and Nadia was eager for Steve to see a real tiger for the first time. The whole day had been so lovely, just the two of them having fun and taking pictures, but this was what she had been looking forward to most and she wasn't disappointed.

'Whoa.' He breathed, lifting his sunglasses off his face and tucking them into his pocket to get a better look at the tigers on the other side of the glass, all of whom had zeroed in on Nadia standing next to Steve. She stayed still, letting him have this moment. He moved a little closer to the glass and tilted his head to the side, watching the way that they walked, when he smirked at her.

'What?' she asked.

'You walk like they do.'

'Excuse me?' Nadia stepped closer to him, prompting one of the tigers to come a little closer to the glass, staring at her.

'Your walk is like a tiger. Light on your feet, purposeful, graceful, but dangerous.'

'I'll take that as a compliment.' She laughed. Steve put his arm around her shoulders and drew her closer to him.

'Excuse me,' They both turned at the voice, a small woman with blue eyes and dressed in a zookeeper uniform. 'I'd heard you both were here. I was wondering if you could help.'

'Help?' Steve repeated, standing a little straighter.

'My name is Diane Clark, I'm in charge of the Big Cat enclosure. We're having a bit of trouble with one of our lions. She came in yesterday and so far nobody has been able to get near her and we need to run some tests. She was rescued from a bad owner who rented her out for parties and to the circus.'

Nadia's blood boiled at the information. How could anybody be so cruel to an animal? 'And you want me to…calm her down?'

'If you could do anything that would be wonderful. She won't let any of the vets come close and I heard a rumour that you can talk to animals.'

'Uh, well, I can't actually talk to animals. Not the way that humans talk to each other, but we have a sort of…understanding. Mutual respect, I suppose.' Nadia shrugged. 'I can try, but I can't promise anything.'

'We're willing to try anything at this point.' Diane sagged in relief. With a glance at Steve Nadia followed the woman through the crowds and towards a door marked Staff Only. Swiping a card in front of an electronic card reader, Diane let them both in and pulled the door behind her firmly. She led them both down the corridor, which was stark and smelled of disinfectant, but did nothing to hide the smell that was animal. Nadia saw tigers, lions, panthers and a jaguar through the various glass panes they passed by and they only stopped when they approached the one at the very end. Through the glass, Nadia saw a group of people in zookeeper uniforms carrying restraining poles and even a net, edging closer towards a lioness that had her lips pulled back over her long teeth snarling at whoever tried to approach her. Nadia sensed her fear and immediately felt sympathy towards the poor creature.

'Get them out of the enclosure.' Nadia said, shrugging out of her jacket.

'What?' Diane gasped.

'They're scaring her. All she sees are a bunch of humans with strange sticks that are acting aggressive. She'll attack soon enough. Get your people out of there and I'll see if I can calm her down.' Nadia explained, using her "doctor voice," as Tony called it. Steve crossed his arms and waited for Diane to lift her walkie to her mouth and gave the order for everyone to retreat. Diane then handed Nadia her own walkie talkie, which she clipped onto the belt of her jeans.

'Be careful.' Steve warned and she nodded at him, slipping in the door after the last person had come back in. Keeping her eyes locked on the lioness, Nadia approached slowly, making sure not to make a lot of noise and cringing when the wire security fence creaked when she pushed it open. The lioness growled low in her chest, but made no move to attack Nadia. In fact, her eyes looked a little…curious.

'I'm not going to hurt you.' Nadia murmured to her, 'I just want to help.'

Each step Nadia took brought her closer to the animal, and the lioness growled in warning when she'd gotten too close. At that point, Nadia would stop and stand still, her grey eyes locked with the lioness's golden ones. After a few moments, she would attempt to come closer, but the lioness would only allow her a few steps each time. This went on until Nadia stood two meters from the large animal and crouched down so that they were at eye level. The lioness regarded her for a few tense moments and Nadia did everything she could to seem as unthreatening as possible, which included staying still. By now Nadia could sense that the lioness was more curious that afraid of her and sniffed the air between them, putting one cautious paw in front of the other until they were nose to nose. Nadia had never been this close to a wild animal before, especially not one as dangerous as this. It would take less than a second for this creature to kill her, but somehow Nadia just knew that this cat only wanted to know what she was.

They stared at each other for a few moments before the lioness started rubbing her nose all over Nadia's face and neck, nuzzling her affectionately. Smiling, Nadia reached up to pet the large animal, scratching her behind the ear and Nadia swore she heard the big cat purr. Eventually the lioness stepped away and turned its back on Nadia, jumping up onto the rocks that littered the enclosure before turning to Nadia.

'You want me to follow you?' Nadia wondered aloud, and having received no reply, followed the animal through the enclosure to a small hole that had been dug in the ground near a large boulder, effectively creating a little cave. The lioness sat down at the edge of it and Nadia understood immediately why she had been acting so aggressively towards every human who had approached her. Inside the little cave were three tiny cubs, mewling and sniffing the air curiously, possibly no more than a day old.

It made complete sense. Humans had abused this poor lion all its life and had learned not to trust them. So, when zoo staff had approached her, she'd felt her children might be endangered. Nadia felt a little proud at this young lion's motherly instinct and crouched down next to her, slipping the walkie talkie from her belt.

'It's safe to come in now. Approach in a small group and slowly.' She said quietly, petting the lioness.

' _Did you figure out why she's been acting this way_?' Diane asked and Nadia heard the gate creak through the walkie talkie.

'Yes.' Nadia said, glancing at the small family, 'She has cubs. She was just protecting them.'

' _Cubs?! We had no idea she was even pregnant…we're coming to you now._ '

'She's fairly calm right now, but be careful all the same.' Nadia continued to pet the lioness soothingly, grinning to herself when the big cat closed its eyes in contentment. Nadia heard the zookeepers approach before she saw them and the lioness noticed too. She didn't growl at them this time, but watched them warily and after a few tense minutes, let them approach.

Nadia stood up, watching the zookeepers go to work and stepped next to Diane, who looked impressed. 'I heard you're out of a job, Doctor.' She said.

Nadia bristled at the reminder and crossed her arms. 'That's correct.'

Diane nodded slowly and then turned to her, 'Would you like one?'


	32. Chapter 32

**A.N – Very very sorry that I've been AWOL lately but please don't let that discourage you from leaving me a review though! I would very much appreciate it as it provides me with needed encouragement.**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Thirty-Two

Nadia began working at the zoo part time and she found that she enjoyed the work more than she expected. Being able to bond with animals so quickly made it easier for them to adjust to life in their new homes and to trust the veterinarians to do their work. There were less hours involved and the pay wasn't spectacular, however it was far less stressful than her job as a doctor, but no less rewarding.

And so, she and Steve fell into an easy routine, their home a much happier one now that they both had jobs to do. That was something they both had in common – they needed a purpose, a reason to get up in the morning. They would share their breakfasts together, head to work in the morning and if Steve wasn't on a mission, after dinner they would go for a run. Nadia saw it mostly as quality time, a chance for them both to be together without having to talk, but just enjoy one another's company. The fact that they were having sex as often as possible definitely helped their relationship too.

However, Nadia was not enjoying herself at that moment, her chest protesting as she was slammed into the mats, her breath coming out in a rush. Groaning, she shut her eyes as stars danced in front of her face. Natasha nudged Nadia's foot and jerked her head.

'Come on. Get up.' She ordered and Nadia could just tell without even looking at her that the redhead was smirking.

'What's the point? You're just going to beat me again.'

'You're definitely improving. You're competent.'

Nadia sat up, slouching over and raised her eyebrows. "'Competent?'" she repeated. 'I'm "competent?" Nat I need to be more than competent. I barely made it through New York.'

Natasha shrugged one shoulder. 'You seemed to do alright to me.'

'That's because I was using my powers, not fighting hand-to-hand.' Nadia ran a hand through her sweaty hair and clambered to her feet, wincing.

Natasha paused, furrowing her brows. 'Why do they have to be different things?'

'What do you mean?'

'Well you use different martial arts to control the elements right?'

'Well…yes.' Nadia put her hands on her hips and explained, 'T'ai chi for water because it focuses on alignment, body structure, breath. Hung Gar for the earth because of the powerful strikes and also the Chu Gar Southern Praying-Mantis style. It took me a long while to find a fighting style that connected well with Fire, but eventually I learned Northern Shaolin, which uses strong arm and leg movements. Air was probably the hardest but Ba Gua seemed like the best fit because of the dynamic circular movements and quick directional changes.'

'So why not use that training to fight opponents without your powers?'

Nadia hesitated. 'You think that would work?'

'Why not? They're all martial arts that don't run through common fighting practises. It would give you an edge. I've seen you move. Its unpredictable but still structured and if you combine that with all the things I've taught you, I think you could do it.'

Nadia crossed her arms. 'That sounded an awful lot like a compliment, Nat.' She smirked.

Natasha rolled her eyes, grinning slyly. 'Don't get used to it.'

Chuckling, Nadia dropped down to a fighting stance and Natasha copied her. The spy met her gaze and looked at her sternly. 'Don't hold back because you're afraid to hurt me. Don't hesitate. Use everything you have in a fight because it might just save your life.'

'You're not trying to kill me though, Nat.' Nadia said, not breaking eye contact. They circled each other and Nadia felt the vibrations through the earth with every step Natasha took, knew exactly where she was going to place her feet.

'Clint tried to kill me. He's my best friend.'

Nadia hesitated. 'He was brainwashed.'

'Doesn't matter. If I'd shown him one hint of hesitation, he would have killed me.' Natasha muttered before making her first strike. Taking her advice, Nadia ducked under the swing and avoided it completely, letting her training in her own martial arts take over. Natasha struck again and Nadia blocked it before striking herself. It became a dance, the two exchanging blows and kicks, Nadia going back to the mountainside many years ago, no longer thinking but just reacting.

When Nat went high, Nadia went low, dodging, landing hits where she could, changing levels of accessibility. One moment she was close to the ground, the next she was leaping through the air, ready to land a kick. Natasha sidestepped quickly and tripped her up on landing. Nadia was tumbling, but to the spy's amazement, managed to roll out of it and somehow kick Natasha's feet from under her, the spy tumbling to the mats with Nadia standing over her, breathing heavily but looking satisfied.

'Good.' Natasha nodded, getting to her feet quickly. 'Those flips you used, where did you learn those?'

Nadia grinned. 'Parkour.'

'Sorry to break up the training session,' They turned at Clint's voice to see him smirking from the doorway. 'But we have to go. Fury called us in.'

'You'd better go.' Nadia said to Natasha and Clint shook his head.

'All of us.'

Nadia blinked but didn't argue, instead grabbing her bag from the corner of the gym and following the two spies to the car that was parked outside. She clambered into the back seat and put her glasses back on, opening her phone to a dozen missed calls and messages.

'So, what's going on?' Nadia asked eventually.

'Alien invasion in England.' Clint explained, his foot pressing the accelerator down a little more. 'Thor was spotted fighting them off but from what I've been told it goes beyond that. Gravitational anomalies, portals into space, etcetera, etcetera.'

'Tony won't be happy about that.' Nadia mumbled, scrolling through news reports on her phone, terrifying footage flooding her screen. She knew how much going through that wormhole into space had messed with him. She'd written him a prescription for anxiety in January before she lost her license to practise. Nadia couldn't imagine he was reacting well to the news that another rip in space had opened up to our world.

'Clean up is already on scene and there are boots on the ground rounding up all the remaining invaders.'

'So…why have we been brought in?' Nadia asked.

'Debriefing.' Natasha explained just as the car pulled into a private airport, a small quinjet waiting for them. Nadia caught sight of General Rhodes waiting with his hands in his pockets. 'Fury will want to go over what not to say to the public in terms of statements.'

'So, he's basically calling us in to tell us to keep our mouths shut whilst SHIELD cleans up the mess?' Nadia summarised dryly, climbing out the car and shutting the door none-too-gently, annoyed.

Clint grinned, 'Basically.'

She rolled her eyes and made her way over to the jet. 'And he couldn't just call us?' she sighed.

She climbed the ramp to the jet and offered Rhodey a smile before entering the interior. She caught sight of Steve sitting in one of the chairs, tapping his fingers anxiously and his shield on the floor under his seat. When he caught sight of Nadia he gave her a smile that she couldn't help but return.

'Hey.' She said, walking right into his arms and sighing. She hadn't seen him in nearly three days and had missed him.

'Hey yourself.' He said, pressing a light kiss to her forehead. She noticed he had to hunch over slightly due to his height.

'Ugh, jeez cut that out would you?' Clint groaned, flopping down into the nearest chair and glaring at them. 'You're so in love it makes me nauseous.'

Nadia laughed and sat down next to Steve, buckling herself in as the jet prepared for take-off. Rhodey pulled out his tablet and opened a file. 'The American government is working in tandem with the UK to keep this as quiet as possible.' He said, handing over the tablet to Steve and Nadia peered over his arm to look at the footage. 'A hostile alien army tries to invade and we didn't even know they were coming. It's a little embarrassing to say the least. SHIELD is quickly removing all footage from the internet as it appears and they'll give an official statement.'

'So, they're covering their asses until they can make it look like they have everything under control?' Nadia said, raising an eyebrow.

'Casualties?' Steve asked before Rhodey could reply to Nadia's jab. Everyone on the team knew Nadia couldn't stand governments. She thought they were all corrupt…and she wasn't necessarily wrong.

'Sixteen of ours.' Rhodey sighed, 'Dozens injured, but they're all being treated in secure facilities. It could have been much worse if Thor hadn't been there.'

'All hostiles are dealt with?' Steve asked and Rhodey nodded. Nadia took her glasses off and rubbed her eyes. She leaned her head back and focussed on her breathing. She really hated planes. Flying by herself wasn't an issue, but she absolutely hated being in a giant metal bird thousands of feet in the air.

'So, I hear you're working in a zoo now.'

'Yes.' Nadia smiled, not opening her eyes.

'Do all the animals gossip about us humans?'

'The animals can't talk, Clint.' Nadia replied, meeting his gaze. 'However, there is this adorable little monkey that reminds me a lot of you.'

'Oh really?'

'Mmm. Annoying. Craves attention. Makes ungodly noises when hungry.'

Natasha burst out laughing and Steve hid his grin behind a cough. Clint rolled his eyes, a smile twitching at his lips. The rest of the flight was mainly peaceful, until they arrived in New York and flew straight past the airport. Nadia frowned.

'Aren't we landing?' Steve asked as they sped towards Avengers Tower. Natasha shrugged and Nadia gripped the seatbelt around her tightly as the quinjet slowed down, spun gently through the air until the exit was facing the building and the quinjet landed on a small strip, no bigger than a helicopter pad. The engine powered down and the quinjet's ramp lowered. Steve glanced at Nadia with raised eyebrows as they both unbuckled and exited the quinjet, Nadia jogging a little down the ramp, eager to be on solid ground.

The tower had undergone a complete makeover since the battle of New York. It was chic, high tech and very modern in design, but Nadia had a feeling this building would still be here in a hundred years. Through the tall glass windows, they saw Tony talking to Fury, who looked serious as always, hunched in his trench coat. Steve and Nadia lead the way, pushing aside the door that lead to the foyer inside. Every surface was gleaming and new, everything screaming Tony.

'Thor!' Nadia exclaimed in delight and the blonde god turned around at her voice, a bright smile covering his face despite the cuts and bruises that littered his skin. She noticed a black band braided into his hair that hadn't been there the last time she'd seen him.

'My friends!' he cried happily. Nadia practically flew over to him, throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly, a huge grin on her face. Despite the circumstances that brought him back to Earth, Nadia was happy he was there.

'It's so good to see you.' She said, dropping to the ground and her smile dropping in concern as she got a closer look at his injuries. 'Are you alright?'

'I am well, thank you.' He said, eyes glittering with emotion at her concern. Steve offered Thor his hand and Thor grabbed it. When Thor turned his head away, Nadia got a look at the black strand in Thor's hair and realised it wasn't leather or any other fabric, it was black hair. She frowned, realising it was probably a strand of Loki's hair and she wondered why Thor had it.

'It's been a long time Thor. How's things on Asgard?' Steve asked and Thor grasped Steve's forearm in an old fashioned gesture of friendship.

'Well, thank you, Captain.' Thor said. He greeted Natasha and Clint with bone crushing hugs and Nadia stood close to Steve, waiting to be introduced to the two women behind Thor and the older man who looked a little frazzled.

'This is Doctor Selvig and Doctor Foster.' Fury introduces, pointing to each of their guests in turn, 'And Darcy Lewis.'

'Doctor Selvig.' Steve stepped forwards offering his hand, 'I remember you from New York. How are you feeling?'

'Well enough for someone who's had a god in their brain and stopped an alien invasion for the second time in two years.' He replied dryly, eyes keenly observing Steve in a way that Nadia recognised as curiosity. Most people had the same reaction when meeting him, some overwhelmed by just how astonishing the serum must have been.

'Ah. Well…' Steve stuttered before the young woman with glasses and brown hair shoved herself forward to introduce herself. Nadia supposed she was cute, and didn't like the way she was practically salivating over Steve.

'Darcy Lewis.' She introduced, and Steve shook her hand also, the young woman eyeing him up like a piece of meat. Nadia cleared her throat and in turn introduced herself to the new arrivals, striking up an interesting conversation with Jane about astrophysics. Nadia wasn't an expert, but the subject intrigued her.

'If you're all done with your little reunion, we have business to attend to.' Fury said, face blank and voice just as unemotional as always.

'Always a delight, Nick.' Tony muttered. Nadia had to contain a snort.

'SHIELD will be taking over clean up and handling all media attention. The whole world knows by now that Thor was in England stopping the alien invasion, so reporters will no doubt be on your tails trying to get any information out of you. Stark has agreed to house you until this all blows over.'

'You're putting us under house arrest?' Nadia growled, stepping forward. 'We didn't do anything Nick. We aren't criminals and some of us have jobs to do. Responsibilities.'

'That may be so, but don't you have a bigger responsibility to not cause any undue panic? The press will be out for blood and so will all the politicians of the world. They'll be hounding you all for statements and if even one of you slips up, it'll mean a lot of trouble for me.' Fury clasped his hands together. ' _Please_ do not make trouble for me.'

'Inspiring as always Nick.' Tony chirped. Fury rolled his eyes. Nadia crossed her arms and grit her teeth – she hated being told what to do.

Fury turned to Nadia, no doubt knowing exactly how she felt about this situation. 'Stay.' He ordered.

Without another word, he swept from the room with a silent swish of his duster coat. Steve touched her shoulder and gave her a reassuring look. He hated being locked inside as much as she did, but at least they were together. He hadn't been the biggest fan of staying indoors for too long since he had escaped captivity.

'Well, I'd better go call work. Tell them I won't be in for a few days.' She muttered, kissing Steve on the cheek as she went and pulled out her phone. Thor approached Steve as they watched Nadia speak to her boss on the phone.

'You two are…courting?' Thor guessed, gesturing awkwardly between Steve and Nadia. Steve shoved his hands in his pockets and smiled gently.

'Yeah I guess you could call it that.'

'They've shacked up now, so call it what you want.' Natasha put in with a smirk.

'And you are happy? She is a good woman.' Thor said and Steve nodded earnestly.

'Yes, very happy.'

'So, how's your brother? Still as murderous as always?' Tony asked loudly. Steve shot him a look, which Tony ignored.

'Loki is dead.' Thor replied gently, suddenly looking very sad. Clint looked up sharply, looking slightly annoyed at the news while Tony blinked awkwardly.

'Oh.'

'Well done, Tony.' Steve said, clapping the billionaire on the shoulder as he walked away. It was going to be a very long few days.


	33. Chapter 33

**A.N - Hello my lovelies! I know it's been a while but I promise I'm not abandoning this story! I would however, love some reviews and feedback. It really would mean a lot to me.**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Thirty-Three

Thor settled right into their group, making himself at home and seeming to enjoy their company. He recounted what he had been up to for the last two years over beer and pizza, mostly for Jane's benefit as she clung to his arm with a tender expression on her face. Nadia didn't blame her in the slightest for wanting to know where Thor had been for the last two years – it was a long time to be apart. Soon after, she, Darcy and Doctor Selvig departed back to London to pack up their things so they could move to New York, as Tony had offered that they move into the Avengers Tower under his protection. Nadia was a little sad to see them all go, as they brought new light to their already colourful group.

Nadia's only family was her brother, who she rarely heard from, much less saw. So being around these people, who were as odd and alone as she was, made her feel secure in a way that she only experienced around Steve. It was a sense of belonging, of family, that allowed her to be herself.

The days they were all cooped up in Avengers Tower seemed to drag on, but they found ways to entertain themselves. Tony attempted to teach Nadia a thing or two about mechanics, which she picked up fairly quickly, much to the billionaire's astonishment. Natasha and Steve had competed in the most intense chess match anyone had ever seen. Clint, Thor and Tony had tried to outdrink one another one evening, however, Thor won that round. Natasha and Nadia spent some quality girl time together, watching movies and eating junk food. All in all, they had gotten through the rough period without killing one another, and that was a victory in Nadia's eyes.

She looked up when the door opened to the apartment, the cup of coffee in her hand long since empty. Steve trudged into the apartment, covered in dirt and looking battle weary, but unharmed. She sent him a small smile.

'Hey.'

'Hello.' He mumbled, opening the fridge door and pulling out a water bottle.

Nadia leaned her forearms on the back of the couch and watched him drink. 'How was the mission?'

'Successful.' Steve replied after he finished the water in four large gulps. 'Professor Amanat is safely in SHIELD custody and there were no civilian casualties.'

'That's good.' Nadia smiled. 'What happened? Fury wouldn't tell me much, even when he answered my call.'

'This mercenary group called the Cadre tried to kidnap her and force the professor to make weapons for them to use against SHIELD.' Steve frowned at that. 'So, Nat and I went undercover and infiltrated the Cadre to prevent the kidnapping.'

Nadia frowned. 'So why was Fury watching Amanat anyway?'

Steve shrugged as he turned the kettle on. 'Apparently, they're keeping an eye on anybody who could potentially build weapons of mass destruction, also possible enhanced people, scientists…SHIELD has a watchlist a mile long.'

'So, when they got the tip that the Cadre was going to kidnap Amanat, they sent you in.'

'Hmm.' Steve agreed, a frown creasing his forehead. Nadia narrowed her eyes, getting up from the couch and then coming around to stand in front of him.

'What is it?' she asked, 'I know that look. Something is bothering you.'

'It's just…I'm a soldier. Not a spy. I'm getting a bit sick of cleaning up the messes Fury makes.' Steve said, looking torn.

'He sent you because he knows how important this was.' Nadia said gently.

'Yes, but he also sends me on jobs that he shouldn't.'

Nadia nodded, crossing her arms. 'You're talking about the missing SHIELD files.'

Steve leaned against the countertop. 'Exactly.'

Weeks ago, Fury had sent Steve on a dead-end mission to recover SHIELD files that had been downloaded illegally. It wasn't usually a job for Captain America, a Level 1 agent could have tracked them down easily enough, but Fury insisted on Steve doing it. It made Nadia wonder what exactly was in those missing files that Steve hadn't been able to recover.

Nadia sighed, wrapping her arms around Steve, and his wound around her immediately. She felt a weight lift of her chest, the one that always settled in whenever Steve went on a mission. He was here, he was safe, and that was all that mattered.

'Enough about the mission and SHIELD.' Steve mumbled into her shoulder. 'How are you, doll?'

'I'm okay.' She replied, not letting go. 'I missed you.'

'I missed you too.' He finally pulled away, and Nadia brushed his dirty hair from his forehead. 'Anything new happen while I was away?'

'I had dinner with Pepper and Tony while they were in town. Helped birth some lion cubs. And we got a new neighbour.' She replied absentmindedly. She was too busy checking every inch of his face for injury.

'Sounds like an interesting week.'

Nadia smiled. 'It was.' Steve made to kiss her, but she put a finger to his lips. 'I love you, babe, I do, but you stink.'

Steve raised his eyebrows. 'Excuse me?'

'You need a shower.' Nadia giggled. 'A long one.'

'That's rude.' He grinned. Quick as lightning, Steve bent down and scooped Nadia up, throwing her over his shoulder. She squealed at the sudden move and Steve chuckled. 'If I need a shower so bad, you can join me.'

Nadia shook her head, giggling at Steve's playfulness. He let her down in their bedroom and headed for the bathroom, switching the shower on and steam soon filled the small tiled room. Nadia smiled and watched as Steve slipped out of his layered stealth suit, dropping it on the floor layer by layer, little clouds of dirt puffing up as they made contact with the tile. He stepped into the shower, closing the door behind him, his blurred outline visible through the frosted glass. Nadia stripped off too, slipping into the shower with him.

They hadn't been intimate for long, but they had become comfortable with each other's nudity. She stared up at him, the water running over his shoulders and drenching his hair. She stepped closer to him, letting the water spray over her as well. She combed her fingers through his hair, and he leaned his face into her touch, never breaking eye contact.

'You make me so happy.' He sighed gently, forehead coming to rest against hers. Nadia's heart swelled.

'That's good to know.' She murmured, 'Otherwise I'm not doing a very good job as your girlfriend.'

"'Girlfriend" doesn't seem to do you justice.' Steve said, nudging his nose against hers, his hands massaging her waist.

'Oh?' she said, letting her eyes fall closed.

'Not even close.' He breathed against her lips, and then he kissed her.

It was quite a kiss, full of longing and Nadia pulled him closer to her. She could never get enough of him, his taste, his kisses, the way he felt. Her fingers dug into his hair, her tongue searching for his as their bodies glided against each other, slick from the running water. She felt his hands glide up her back, pressing her more firmly against his chest, one tangling in her hair.

Steve broke their kiss and latched onto her neck, licking the water off her skin and sucking on her earlobe. Nadia gasped and moaned at the feelings, scraping her nails over Steve's shoulder blades. The water was running faster than it was before, the temperature increasing. Steve pulled back and smirked at her.

'Is that you?' he asked, glancing up at the showerhead. Nadia blushed, and the water pressure decreased.

'Sorry.' She said, 'I was distracted.'

Steve's hold of her didn't let up, and he backed her up against the tiled wall. 'It's getting worse, isn't it? Your control.'

'I don't know. I've held back for so long…' she trailed off, not really sure of how to express what was happening with her. She ran a hand over her face and blinked up at him.

'We'll figure it out doll.' He said and Nadia smiled. 'What?'

'You said we. _We_ will figure it out.' She explained, standing on her tiptoes to look him in the eye.

'And we will.' Steve said, 'Now, can I kiss you again, or can't you control yourself?'

'Shut up.' Nadia said, bringing his lips back to hers. Steve smiled against her lips, but it turned into a groan when she ran her fingertips over the front of his stomach. His tongue danced across hers and he gripped the backs of her thighs. With hardly any effort, he pinned her to the wall, her legs wrapped around his hips and their chests brushing with every breath. They were grinding on each other, sending shivers up Nadia's spine every time their crotches made contact. Steve was licking, biting and sucking on her neck, in every place that made her squirm. She was moaning now, she could hear it even though she didn't register making the noises.

She cried out when Steve thrust up into her in one quick movement and immediately felt more turned on than ever. They were having shower sex up against the wall, the water pounding down over them. Steve's movements were more of a slow grind than actual thrusting and it was driving her wild.

'Please, baby, please.' She groaned through gritted teeth. Steve lifted his head to look at her, and she noticed that his eyes were blazing as they looked at each other. With a gasp, Steve lifted her higher up onto the wall, a wet bang sounding through the room as her back made contact with the tiles. She still couldn't get over how strong he was, and it was a definite bonus right then as he held her with no effort in one arm, his hand bracing himself against the wall. They moved together, each sighing the name of the other more than once as they reached their highs, shuddering and gasping and making a lot of noise.

'Our new neighbour won't like us very much after that.' Steve mumbled to her and Nadia laughed, slipping down to the floor, still in Steve's arms. He nuzzled her neck before kissing her cheek, then her forehead, and finally her lips.

'No, she won't.' Nadia agreed, but honestly didn't care in that moment. 'Maybe we should invite her for dinner, be neighbourly in the hopes she'll ignore us when we get loud.'

'That's a good idea.'

Nadia sighed. 'We should actually get cleaned up in here before the hot water runs out.'

'Why would I worry about that when you can just heat it up for me?' Steve grinned and Nadia laughed, reaching around to grab the shampoo. As she poured some into her hand and then handed it to Steve, her looked at it like it was a foreign object he had never seen before. She knew that look.

'What?' she inquired, lathering up her hands then then massaging the shampoo through her hair.

'Hmm?'

'I know that face. You've gone all serious and brooding. What's bothering you?' she wondered. He never got this contemplative right after sex, so it worried her.

'I was hoping to ask you something, but I don't know how you'll react.' He said, and Nadia stepped under the running water, rinsing out her hair. She caught a glance of his face and he did look worried.

'What's that?'

'I…I was going to see Peggy this afternoon.'

Confused at the sudden subject change, Nadia smiled, 'That's nice of you Steve. I know how much you love spending time with her.'

'I do…and you know how important you are to me, right?'

'Yes.'

'And you know how important she is to me, too.'

'Steve. Get to the point, babe.'

'I want you to come with me. To meet her.'

Nadia froze. Then stared. 'What?'

Steve then blurted, looking more worried than ever, 'I've told her all about you, and her memory is okay lately, and I want you to meet her before…before it really gets bad and before you don't get to meet the real Peggy.'

Nadia just stared at Steve for a few moments before she abruptly stepped out of the shower. Steve shut the water off and followed her. Nadia wrapped a thick towel around her quickly and grabbed another, towelling off her dripping hair.

'I understand it's a little strange, but it would mean the world to me.' Steve implored. Still Nadia didn't face him, her brain running too fast for her to really process. Finally, she turned around to face him. He was looking at her with a mixed expression, and for once she couldn't tell what he was thinking.

'It's just…Steve, you loved her. And she loved you. It's a little weird, right? Bringing your current girlfriend to see your old one?'

'Peggy and I were never like we are.' Steve shook his head. 'It doesn't matter. Besides, I got over my feelings a long time ago, Nadia. She's the only person alive who knew me before all this.' He gestured to his body. 'Before I became Captain America and before I went into the ice. She's the only connection to my past that I have left. She's one of my best friends.'

Nadia sighed, sitting down on the edge of their bed. After staring at the seam on the bottom of his towel for a long while, she looked up and met his eyes. 'It means that much to you?'

Steve came and crouched in front of her, taking her hands in his. 'It would mean the world to me.'

Nadia nodded. 'Alright then.'

Steve's face broke into a big grin. Really?'

'Yes, really.' She said, unable to stop herself from smiling at his happy face. 'But we should probably get dressed.'

'Yeah, that's a good idea.' Steve said, pecking her on the lips before springing to his feet and jogging to the dresser.

Nadia's stomach twisted with nerves, wondering what exactly Steve had told Peggy. She pulled on some clothes, including her nicest blouse and her favourite boots. She knew Peggy was in her nineties, but she still wanted to impress what was Steve's oldest friend.

'Ready to go?' Steve asked her twenty minutes later.

Nadia patted her hair down and exhaled quickly. 'Yup.'

They stepped into the hallway and Nadia saw their new neighbour, a pretty blonde woman in scrubs. She was carrying a work bag and wore sneakers on her feet. She looked a little flustered to see them and she was holding her keys in her hand.

'Hi.' Nadia blurted. The woman looked equally stunned.

'Hello.'

'I'm Nadia. Uh, Paolera. This is my boyfriend, Steve Rogers.' Nadia introduced, shaking her hand, and Steve did the same. Nadia noticed that the woman's gaze lingered on Steve a little too long. 'I guess we're your new neighbours.'

'It's nice to meet you both.' She said, 'I'm Kate.'

'Nice to meet you too Kate.' Steve said, always polite, ever the gentleman. 'We were wondering if you would like to join us for dinner tonight? It can be tough moving into a new place surrounded by strangers.'

Kate blinked in surprise before she smiled. 'Yeah, that would be great.'

'Awesome.' Nadia said, clapping her hands together. 'Seven okay with you Kate?'

'Perfect.' Kate replied, gaze flicking once again to Steve. 'I'll see you then.'

'Okay then.' Nadia said, then turned to Steve. 'Shall we?'

Steve gestured with his arm out for her to proceed first, and they both waved goodbye to their new neighbour. They descended the stairs, and once they were out of earshot, Nadia snorted loudly, unable to help herself any longer. Steve raised his eyebrows.

'What?'

'She was totally checking you out.' Nadia chortled, looking back at Steve, who looked mortified.

'Pardon?'

'She thinks you're hot. The bee's knees. Swell. Great. Handsome. Do you need more adjectives?' Nadia smirked, turning around once they reached the bottom.

'I sincerely doubt that.' Steve said, cheeks a little pink.

'Doubt it all you want. But you'll see at dinner tonight.' Nadia said, looping her arm through his.


	34. Chapter 34

**A.N – Hello my lovelies. I know it's been a while. But here I am with a new chapter! Yaaaay! If you would be so kind as to drop a review at the end to tell me what you think I'd really appreciate it.**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Thirty-Four

Steve could tell she was nervous. She wouldn't stop fiddling – with her necklace, her hair, her blouse. It was endearing that she wanted to make a good impression, but a little unnecessary. He had already told Peggy all about her, and Peggy seemed to like what she heard. Whether or not she remembered what Steve had told her was another story though.

The room was the same as always, but there were more photos around than last time. Steve knew her family was bringing them along to help her memory, so she wouldn't wake up and be alone. Peggy was sitting up in bed, staring out the window while the record player in the corner spun slowly, a soft jazz song filling the air. She smiled at Steve when she saw him, and he made his way over to her, kissing her cheek gently and giving her a smile.

'Hey Peggy.' He said, looking her over with a critical eye. She hadn't freaked out in surprise to see him, so it was a good sign that her memory was alright that day. 'How are you feeling?'

Peggy made a small sound in the back of her throat. 'Well enough, despite what they feed you here.' She replied with a cheeky smile. Steve chuckled, and he saw Peggy's eyes fix on something over his shoulder.

'Oh, yeah.' Steve realised, turning around and grabbing Nadia's hand, dragging her forward. She looked hesitant and was biting her lip. 'Peggy, this is Doctor Nadia Paolera…my girlfriend. Nadia, this is Peggy.'

'Hi.' Nadia squeaked, grasping Peggy's proffered, frail hand and squeezing it.

'So, this is the girl you never shut up about.' Peggy smirked, amused. Steve noticed Nadia's cheeks tinge pink and shoved his hands in his pockets.

'Sure is.' He crowed. Peggy raised a single eyebrow at him and he and Nadia sat down in nearby chairs.

'You didn't tell me she was beautiful, Steve.' Peggy said with a small smile, eyes locked on Nadia's.

'Yes, I did, Peg.'

'You also didn't tell me she was a doctor.'

'I told you she was a genius.'

'Steve.' Nadia hissed.

'What?' He defended, 'You are.'

Nadia shook her head and Peggy chuckled, a gravelly sound that racked her chest. 'How did you two meet?'

Steve looked at Nadia and she shifted in her seat. 'I gave Steve his final physical exam after he had come out of the ice and gone through rehabilitation. I'm a consultant for SHIELD.'

Peggy nodded. 'And you two kept in touch?'

'Yes.' Steve said, reaching over and grasping Nadia's small hand. 'Nadia was the first person to help me adjust to modern life. She's still trying to teach me, though I'm not a good student.'

'Hey, you managed to use the computer to pay bills the other day. That's no small feat.' Nadia reminded him kindly.

'I heard you lost your job.' Peggy stated, and Steve winced a little. It was a sore subject for Nadia, as she loved being a doctor and having her license stripped was a hard blow for her to take. He saw her shift in her seat a little before answering.

'Yes. But it was worth it.' She said, glancing at Steve from the corner of her eye, and Steve once again felt full of gratitude and love for her. She had sacrificed so much to get him back after he had been kidnapped – her job, her pride, had held him through the nightmares and had talked with him through it all. He really felt that he didn't deserve her.

'What do you do now?' Peggy asked. She was being very blunt, Steve noticed, but he had expected that. She was his friend, and he had brought a girl to meet her, of course there would be an interrogation of some sort.

'I work in a zoo, helping animals rehabilitate to be released or to ease them into sanctuary living.'

Peggy gave her a curious look, 'Yes. You can speak to animals, is that right?'

Steve knew how much it annoyed Nadia to get that question and had to hide a chuckle with a cough. Nadia folded her hands around her knee.

'Not exactly. I can change into the forms of animals, but I can't technically talk with them. Animals have a different way of communicating than humans do. It goes beyond words and dialects, its more about emotion and instinct. They can sense there's something different about me, so they're sometimes wary when I approach, but after a while they can sense that I don't mean them any harm.'

'That's…extraordinary.' Peggy breathed, looking at Steve quickly. He raised his eyebrows at her and she turned to Nadia again.

'How did your parents react to such gifts? I imagine it was quite a shock.' Peggy giggled, no doubt wondering if there was a hilarious story to be told.

Oh shit, Steve thought. He hadn't told Peggy about Nadia's parents, mostly because it was such a personal thing to share.

Nadia titled her head, considering her answer before she replied honestly, 'I don't have any parents.'

'Oh.' Peggy's smile dropped. 'I'm sorry.'

'Don't be.' Nadia shrugged. 'I'm not. They abandoned me as a baby, and I grew up in the foster system.'

'You never went looking for them?'

'I did. I couldn't find anything on them. They simply vanished without a trace.' Steve noticed that she left out that she had a brother and understood why she did so. Josef's occupation put her safety in a continuously precarious position, so keeping her relationship with him a secret was imperative.

'And you have no other family to speak of?'

'Well,' Nadia began, glancing at Steve with a small smile, 'Family is sometimes more than blood. My team has shown me support, acceptance, kindness – more than any blood relation I can speak of.'

Peggy looked at Steve. 'I like her. She's smart.'

Nadia laughed outright, and Steve leaned back in his seat, looking from Peggy to Nadia, his gaze lingering a little longer than perhaps was appropriate. He loved when she laughed, but he thought back to earlier that day. How she had held his face in her hands, had caressed his lips with just the hint of a smile. He loved her, more than he had ever loved anyone.

'Alright, enough of the chit chat.' Peggy said, waving a frail hand about and grinning at Steve. 'You ready to get your arse whooped?'

'A woman of your age should not be using language like that.' Steve replied as he got up, a small smirk on his face. Nadia snorted.

'You're one to talk. You hit your toe on the counter last week and said things that would have made a sailor blush.' She winked at Peggy as they both chuckled at his annoyed expression at being outed.

'It really hurt!' He defended, coming back with a board game in his hands. Nadia situated herself on the other side of Peggy and they laid the game on the bed. It was Scrabble and Steve rubbed his hands in anticipation. It was something that Peggy had insisted on doing every time he visited. She claimed it was because her family let her win all the time, but Steve knew it was because it helped her mind stay sharp. Nadia was very good at this game and though he didn't like to brag, so was he.

'Have you played this before?' Peggy asked. Nadia grinned impishly.

'I beat Steve once.'

'Once.' Steve held up a single finger as he sorted tiles. Peggy laughed and shook her head, looking livelier that he'd seen her in a long while. They began to play, and time slipped by quickly. Peggy was still as sharp as she always was when her Alzheimer's wasn't playing up and ended up winning two of the three games they played.

She and Nadia got along better than Steve could have hoped. They teased him constantly but he didn't mind because they were bonding. Peggy told them about her grandchildren, about her time at SHIELD, how tiresome Fury was, and anything else she could think of. It gave Steve a warm feeling in his chest, watching them and something clicked into place within him.

Eventually Nadia and Steve had to leave in order to gather groceries for their dinner with their new neighbour, and Nadia excused herself to go the ladies before they departed. Peggy was smiling, happy, as she reached over and took one of Steve's hands in both of hers.

'I can see why you love her. She's quite a woman.'

'She is.' Steve agreed, wholeheartedly. Peggy's expression turned sad.

'I see the way you look at her. You never once looked at me like that. Like you light up from the inside.'

'Peg…'

Peggy shook her head with a melancholy smile. 'It's alright. I have had a wonderful life and a husband who loved me and whom I loved in return. My only regret was that you didn't get to live your life after the war, but now that you have Nadia…you have that chance. So, don't be an idiot and don't waste it.'

'I don't plan to, Peggy.' He said, giving her hands a squeeze.

'Then maybe you're smarter than you look, Captain Rogers.' Peggy teased, releasing his hands and Steve leaned forwards to kiss her cheek gently. He smiled at her and then told her something he'd realised a long time ago, but had never said aloud.

Until now. 'I'm going to marry her, Peggy.'

* * *

Nadia and Steve had departed the nursing home together, leaving a sorrowful Peggy behind. She had made Nadia promise to visit her again, even without Steve. The two women had gotten into an energetic conversation about women's rights in third-world countries, and Steve guessed they would probably pick up where they had left off, not to mention another Scrabble rematch. It made him happier than he could ever express that the two most important women in his life got along so well.

They had gathered the necessary groceries and now Nadia was cooking away in the kitchen, preparing for when Kate arrived. The table was set, wine waiting, and Steve had selected a great swing album to play. He was trying to stay out of Nadia's way, helping in any way that he could without messing anything up. She had changed into a purple dress, her feet bare and her hair in a messy bun on top of her head. She looked lovely.

Steve stole his arms around her waist as she stood at the counter, chopping cucumber for a salad. She smiled and continued her work. 'Are you trying to distract me?' She wondered.

'No,' Steve replied honestly. 'You just look so beautiful I wanted to be close to you.'

With her free hand, Nadia reached up and ran her fingers over his cheek, making him close his eyes, loving these tender, innocent touches. 'That's very sweet, Steve.' She said, and he could hear surprise and joy in her voice.

She turned around in his arms and brushed his hair from his forehead. 'You look handsome too, you know.'

Steve shrugged a shoulder, grinning at her. He wasn't very fashion orientated, but personal appearance is important to him. He had grown up in a culture where dressing to impress was important and part of everyday life. When he had joined the army, keeping your uniform tidy and clean in the barracks had been a high priority. Some habits weren't so easily broken, even after seventy years.

Nadia grinned at him, even when he switched his grip to grab her hand in his and put his hand on her waist. She frowned in confusion when he kept smiling in that bold way.

'What are you doing, Rogers?' She asked him with narrowed eyes.

'Dance with me.' He replied simply, spinning them around the small kitchen. Nadia gasped out a little laugh.

'Right now?! Kate is going to be here any minute!' She protested, even as Steve pulled her closer and continued to turn them around the kitchen. He rested his head on top of hers and contentment settled over him.

'Just for a moment, doll.' He pleaded, and she sighed, silently agreeing.

He loved dancing with her. It wasn't as popular now as it had been when Steve was growing up, and he felt it was a damn shame. It was a great way for couples to have a good time and get to know each other. He admitted he wasn't the best dancer, but that didn't stop him from enjoying it.

A knock on the door ruined his peaceful moment and he reluctantly released Nadia with a sigh. She gave him a look and turned back to her work at the kitchen counter while Steve went to answer the door. On the other side, stood Kate, no longer in scrubs, but a flattering black dress and her hair curled to perfection. She smiled brightly at Steve.

'Hi.'

'Hello.' Steve replied, stepping aside so that Kate could enter. 'Please come in.'

'Thank you.' She said, moving past him and looking around the modest apartment. She was holding a wine bottle in her hand, Steve noticed as he closed the door. Nadia came into the dining room and nervously wiped her hands on the front of her dress.

'Kate! Thanks for coming.' Nadia greeted, giving her a killer smile. Kate returned it with equal warmth.

'Thank you for the invite.' She replied, then held out the bottle to Nadia, 'This is for you.'

'Oh! Thank you very much!' Nadia replied, taking it and examining the label. She looked impressed. Steve knew nothing about wine, or alcohol in general, but he could trust her judgement.

'Please have a seat.' Steve said, gesturing to the dining table, a small rounded thing that was just big enough for their cutlery and food. Nadia placed the wine bottle on the table and went into the kitchen and Steve followed. He gathered a bowl of salad and the dish of roasted vegetables. She grabbed a bottle opener and the tray of roasted lamb that she had toiled over for ages that afternoon. They laid the small feast on the table and the food smelled heavenly to Steve.

'Wow. I didn't expect you to go to so much trouble.' Kate said, looking politely humble. Nadia smiled at her.

'It's no trouble.' Steve didn't feel like bringing up her earlier meltdown about the potatoes because he didn't want Nadia to throw a fireball at his head. So instead, he pressed his lips together, trying not to smile.

He watched her struggle to unscrew the cork of the wine bottle for a good minute and knew it must be stuck, because Nadia usually had no problem with opening things – she was very strong. He held his hand out to her and she passed it to him and with one easy moment, Steve opened the bottle. Kate raised her eyebrows.

'Help yourself.' Nadia said, sitting down as Steve poured three glasses of wine. Kate didn't need another invitation, serving herself a full plate of food. Nadia then followed and finally Steve.

'So, are you new to the area, Kate?' Nadia asked between bites of lamb.

'I've lived in the city for a while now, but I recently got a job that required relocation. So, here I am.' Kate replied with a small smile.

'Any family around?' Steve wondered. It was unusual for young, single women to move a fair way without any family to help.

'I have an aunt who lives across town.' Kate nodded, then pointed to the lamb. 'This is beautiful.'

'Thank you.' Nadia replied.

'Where do you work, Kate?' Steve asked.

'George Washington University hospital. I'm a nurse there.'

'Great hospital. I've visited a few times. They do great research there.' Nadia said. 'I read a paper about this new treatment for cancer they're working on and it sounds amazing.'

'You've been?' Kate asked, and Steve looked across at Nadia, watching her face very carefully.

'I used to be a doctor. I don't practise anymore.' Nadia replied smoothly. It was the truth, but she neglected to state a reason. She met Steve's gaze and gave a small, discreet nod of her head. She saw his concern and appreciated it, but it was unnecessary.

'That's right. I heard something about you giving up your practise.' Kate said, then turned to Steve. 'That was right after you were recovered from a kidnapping, right?'

Steve cleared his throat and took a sip of his wine. 'Yes.' He said simply, not wishing to discuss it further, but it seemed Kate got the message.

They ate the rest of their meal in silence and Nadia kept glancing at Steve, eyes wide and urging. Perhaps wanting him to say something to get the conversation going again. Kate beat him to it thought.

'So, how long have you two been together?' she asked.

Steve helped himself to seconds as Nadia answered, 'Just over a year now.'

'Must have been a shock to see how different dating culture is now compared to seventy years ago.' Kate teased. Steve grinned.

'You have no idea. It's been an adjustment and I'm still catching up.'

'What's your favourite thing about this century?' Kate wondered, putting her chin on her hands.

Steve considered for a moment then answered honestly. 'The food. So much variety, different diets of varying nutritional value and it's so easily available. We used to boil everything, and we didn't have much, so I would say, yeah, the food.'

'And your least favourite thing?' Kate prodded and Steve noticed that Nadia's face was thoughtful as she looked at their dinner guest and then over at him.

Steve leaned back in his chair, 'Just one?'

Nadia snorted. 'Don't get him started on the inflation rate.'

'It's ridiculous how much people pay for a bottle of milk these days!' Steve protested. Kate laughed whilst Nadia rolled her eyes. They steered away from the topic and talked instead of inane things such as recent films, books and celebrity drama.

An hour later, after dessert was served, the dishes were piled in the sink and the wine Kate had bought was long since finished, Kate called it a night.

'Thank you so much for inviting me into your home.' She said, shaking Steve's hand and then giving Nadia a quick hug.

'It was our pleasure.' Steve said, putting his arm around Nadia and she smiled up at him.

'You're too kind. Um, well…goodnight.' Kate said, turning and walking through the open door and entering her own apartment, turning once to look over her shoulder and smile at them. Steve closed the door and then ruffled his hair.

'Well, I think that went well.' He said turning and walking into the kitchen. He rolled up his sleeves and started to clean the dishes. Nadia leaned on the counter next to him, turned towards him and arms crossed.

'You're certainly better at flirting now than you were a year ago.' Nadia remarked with a raised eyebrow. Steve frowned at her.

'What?'

'Kate. She's so into you it's not funny.'

'What?' Steve repeated, dumbfounded. Nadia rolled her eyes.

'It was so obvious. She was flirting with you all night.'

'I…honestly didn't notice.' He admitted, drying his hands and turning around to face her fully. He studied her face for a moment before it clicked. 'Are…are you jealous?'

'What? No!' Nadia cried indignantly, her cheeks turning pink. 'I mean, it's not like she's tall and blonde and beautiful. Smart too.'

Steve grinned. 'You _are_ jealous.'

She didn't deny it this time. 'So what if I am?'

Steve stepped closer. 'You don't need to be.'

'She was flirting with you.'

'I don't care.' He replied simply. Their foreheads touched, and Steve's hands cradled either side of her waist. 'She can flirt all she wants. I only have eyes for you, doll.'

Nadia swallowed and said, 'Don't look at me like that.'

'Like what?' Steve asked innocently.

'That! You've got your innocent boy scout expression on but your eyes say something else entirely so stop it!'

'What exactly are my eyes saying?' Steve teased her. Twelve months ago he wouldn't have dreamed of saying something so daring to her, but Nadia got him to come out of his shell. He had always had a smart mouth, and it hadn't helped him avoid beatings as a kid, but now it was dramatically improving his mood as he watched her blush deepen.

'Doesn't matter.' She replied, eyes darting down to his lips before they crashed together in a kiss. It was all teeth, tongues and soft moans, each grasping the other closer, tighter. When Steve latched onto Nadia's earlobe, something she adored, she shuddered.

'What are you doing?' she breathed. She squealed when Steve gathered her up into his arms.

'Proving to my jealous girlfriend she has nothing to worry about.'

And prove it he did. Twice.


	35. Chapter 35

**A.N – We are entering Winter Soldier here people! Please keep reviewing because I love feedback!**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Thirty-Five

Life had decided to speed up. Steve was working for SHIELD, sometimes having to leave for days or even weeks on end for missions and Nadia would work at the zoo five times a week, even leading school trips on tours to help educate young children on how important conservation is. Their time together was not as bountiful as it had been, but they were making sure to make every moment count. They would both go and see Peggy semi-regularly, either together or separately, but her Alzheimer's had worsened over the past months to the point where she would lose her memory in the middle of sentences. Seeing her in such a state pained Steve more than he could say, but he was thankful to have Nadia in those moments to provide support and comfort.

Steve had increasingly become frustrated with Director Fury. He continuously kept information from Steve regarding missions, and it was getting harder for Steve to continue to trust his commanding officer. Nadia kept reminding him that SHIELD was an intelligence agency, not an army and that there was a huge difference, but it didn't make Steve feel better – just more of an outsider.

Public interest in the Avengers in the last few months had died down and as a result, Nadia and Steve could leave their apartment without being ambushed by reporters, which made Steve's morning run all that much more enjoyable.

It was barely dawn when Steve left Nadia sleeping in their bed. He placed a kiss on her cheek before quietly tiptoeing out of the apartment, not wanting to disturb her. She didn't often get to sleep in, getting called into the sanctuary to tend to some animal or another, so Steve tried not to bother her when she got a chance to rest. Sometimes she would join him on a run, but he always had to slow down so she could keep up. He preferred going by himself, to really push his physical limits.

Steve was running a circuit around the Washington monument, around the lake and the park when he spotted another jogger. A man around his age, with dark skin and a stubbly beard, panting while he jogged.

Steve sprinted up to him, and as he passed, said, 'On your left.'

The man said nothing in return and Steve kept running, continuing his third lap of the circuit. Running was exhilarating for him, it got his adrenaline pumping and cleared his mind. It wasn't long until he was about to pass the man again.

He repeated the phrase, 'On your left,' as he sprinted past. This time the man had a reply.

'Uh huh. On my left. Got it.'

Steve couldn't help but grin to himself and he pushed himself harder, running even faster. Within maybe ten minutes, he was upon the man again. He must have heard Steve coming because he turned his head slightly.

'Don't say it. Don't.'

'On your left.' Steve said all the same as he overtook and left the man in the dust.

'Come on!' The man cried, trying to race after Steve and failing. Steve felt a little bad, but it was amusing. He completed another turn around the lake and monument before he came to a stop in the park. The sun was fully up now, and the park was teeming with people. Under one of the trees was the man from earlier, gasping and clutching his chest a little.

'Need a medic?' Steve called, walking over to him. The guy grinned a little as he sat on the ground.

'I need a new set of lungs.' He replied, not taking any offence to Steve's teasing. 'Dude, you just ran thirteen miles in like thirty minutes.'

Steve put his hands on his hips. 'Guess I got a late start.' He replied easily.

The man on the ground chuckled. 'Really? You should be ashamed of yourself. Should take another lap.' He looked away and saw Steve still standing there. 'Did you take it? I assume you just took it.'

Steve grinned and pointed at the logo on the man's jumper, recognising it as military. 'What unit you with?'

'58th para-rescue. But now I'm working down at the VA.' He held a hand out to Steve, wriggling his fingers a little to indicate he needed a hand to get up. 'Sam Wilson.'

Steve took his hand and hauled him to his feet. 'Steve Rogers.'

Sam got to his feet with a grunt, still hunched over. 'Kinda put that together.' He panted then straightened up, examining Steve with knowing eyes. The eyes of a soldier. 'Must have freaked you out coming home after the whole de-frosting thing.'

'Takes some getting used to.' Steve admitted before turning away. 'Good to meet you, Sam.'

He began to walk way, eager for breakfast when Sam called out, 'It's your bed right?'

Steve turned. 'What's that?'

'Your bed. It's too soft.' Sam said, standing in front of him. 'When I was over there, I would sleep on the ground and use rocks for pillows. Now I come home, lie in my bed and it's like…' Sam shook his head, the words escaping him, but Steve knew what he meant.

'Lying on a marshmallow. Feel like I'm going to sink right into the floor.' Steve said. He didn't feel that way often, sleeping in bed with Nadia now. But when he had lived alone, sleep had evaded him more nights than he could count. Even now, sharing a bed with Nadia, if she wasn't there it was hard for him to get to sleep, to relax.

Sam nodded, exhaling a small chuckle, looking at Steve with understanding and crossing his arms.

'How long?' Steve asked him.

'Two tours.' He said and Steve nodded. That was a long time to be away from home. 'You must miss the good old days, huh?'

It was a question Steve got often, so his answer was immediate. 'Well, things aren't so bad. Food's a lot better – we used to boil everything. No polio is good and….internet. So helpful. Been reading that a lot trying to catch up. My girlfriend has helped a lot too.'

Sam looked like he was contemplating something before he licked his lips and said, 'Marvin Gaye, 1972, _Troubleman_ soundtrack. Everything you missed, jammed into one album.'

Steve nodded and got out a small notebook he kept in his back pocket. 'I'll put it on the list.' He said, scribbling it down and then tucking it in his pocket. His phone beeped and he took it out, seeing it was a message from Natasha about a mission.

'Alright Sam. Duty calls,' Steve said, holding out a hand to shake Sam's hand. 'Thanks for the run…if that's what you wanna call running.'

Sam's draw jaw dropped open. 'That's how it is?' he asked, a grin twitching at the edge of his lips, knowing that Steve meant no harm by it.

'Oh, that's how it is.'

Sam laughed this time. 'Okay.' He replied as Steve backed towards the curb, not turning away. 'Hey if you ever wanna stop by the VA, make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk, just let me know.'

A loud rumbling car engine approached and Steve grinned, 'I'll keep that in mind.'

A tinted black sports car pulled up at the curb just near them and Natasha rolled down the window. 'Hey fellas,' she greeted, 'Any one of you know where the Smithsonian is? I'm here to pick up a fossil.'

Steve rolled his eyes, accustomed to the team's teasing of his age now, even though Thor was technically older than all of them put together. 'Hilarious.' He said, climbing into the car.

'How you doin'?' Sam said, crouching to look at Natasha.

'Hey.' She replied. Steve turned back to Sam and shrugged a shoulder.

'You can't run everywhere.' He said. Sam shook his head, smiling.

'No, you can't.' he replied. Natasha revved the powerful engine and pulled out into traffic. Steve wondered where the hell they were going this time and sighed. He pulled out his phone and hit the first speed dial.

'Hello?' Nadia answered after four rings. She sounded out of breath.

'Hey doll. Nat and I have a mission.' He said, wincing a little. He could practically see her shoulders slump in his mind's eye.

'Oh, okay. How long will you be gone?' She asked, and he noticed her voice was lower.

'I'll probably be back tomorrow but I'll let you know if it will be longer.'

'Alright. Well, I won't be home until late all this week. We're all working overtime to get the sanctuary ready for those new arrivals in two weeks.'

'Don't work too hard.'

'And you don't take any unnecessary risks.' She replied, 'Both of you stay safe. I love you.'

Steve smiled gently. 'Love you too.' He said and then hung up.

Natasha shifted into a higher gear. 'How'd she take it?' she asked.

'Same as always.' Steve replied. 'She'll worry about us until we come back.'

Natasha smiled, fondness in her voice when she said, 'She'd worry even if she was coming with us.'

'True.'

* * *

Nadia knew Steve was home even before she set foot in the apartment. She could hear the record player from the other side of the door, and she sensed him moving around the kitchen. She put her keys in the lock and turned, letting herself in and smiling despite herself. She'd expected Steve to be gone on a mission for at least three days, but here he was, home within twenty-four hours.

'Honey! I'm home!' she called with a grin. She toed off her shoes and dropped her bag on the counter. Steve turned, handing her a plate with a grilled cheese on it.

'Hey.' He greeted, pecking her on the lips and Nadia immediately noticed the frown on his face.

'What's wrong?' she asked. 'Are you hurt?'

He blinked in surprise. 'What? No, I'm fine.'

'Then why do you look like you're constipated?' Nadia asked, taking a bite of her sandwich and leaning against the counter. Steve rubbed his face, looking annoyed.

'It's this mission.'

'What happened?' she asked. Steve recounted the mission in detail, even thanking her for teaching him some parkour, as it had saved his life. He came to the part about Natasha gathering SHIELD intel when they were supposed to be recuing hostages and Nadia frowned, brushing her hands together to get rid of crumbs.

'Well, that's her job, Steve. She's a spy.'

Steve gave her a frustrated look. 'I _know_ that. The point it that Fury didn't tell me that would be part of the mission. Called it compartmentalisation.'

'You were in charge of the mission, right?' Nadia asked. Steve nodded and she continued, 'Then you should know all aspects of the mission. Fury had no right to keep that from you.'

'That's what I told him.'

Nadia held up a hand. 'You told him this?'

'Yes. This isn't the first time he's sent me on a mission under false pretences.' He reminded her, and Nadia conceded his point. 'I'm getting really sick of being used to pick up the pieces.'

Nadia sighed. 'I know.'

'Then there's that new project he's working on.' Steve grumbled and Nadia's ears perked up. This was new information.

'What project?' she asked. If possible, Steve's expression grew even darker. He knew it was supposed to be confidential, but Fury had made no mention of keeping it from Nadia.

'He calls it Project Insight. Three helicarriers designed to target and eliminate global threats.'

'What?' Nadia cried. 'Who picks the targets?'

'I have no idea. Fury didn't share that information.'

'That is…' Nadia slumped against the counter, feeling drained from the sheer wrongness of this. 'Horrible. And Fury claims it's for global safety?'

Steve started pacing. 'With that thinking he could pull the trigger on Thor, or Banner, or Tony…or you.'

'Me?' She gasped.

'Since New York you've moved into the top ten on SHIELD's watchlist.' Steve said, eyes wary. 'I thought you knew.'

'Does it look like I was aware of this?' Nadia cried and then sobered when she realised. 'It's because I'm an enhanced, isn't it?'

'I daresay so. That and the fact you've been pretty vocal about your hatred of governments…' Steve looked at her for a long moment before grasping her arms and holding her close to him. 'You know I won't let anything happen to you right?'

Nadia smiled gently. 'I know.'

Steve kissed her forehead and hugged her. Nadia rested her head against his chest and sighed. She could hear his heart beating steadily.

'When did the world get so complicated?' She wondered.

'I know what you mean. Before, I always knew who the bad guys were. Now…now I'm not so sure.'


	36. Chapter 36

**A.N – DOUBLE UPDATE?! WHAAAAAT? Well, what can I say? I felt like spoiling you all. That being said, if you could drop me a review, that'd be fabulous!**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Thirty-Six

Nadia trudged up the stairs to the apartment, sighing after a long day. She had worked a fifteen hour day and was ready for a long shower and bed. Not to mention all that was going on with Steve at SHIELD was making her worried. To say that she had a lot going on was an understatement and she was starting to feel the ramifications of stress. She was constantly tired, moody and had snapped at people more than once. The fact that the intensity of her powers was increasing scared her too. They had always gotten stronger as she grew older, but now she was having trouble controlling them. She'd made it rain in the apartment a few days ago. Steve had laughed, but she hadn't missed the apprehension in his eyes when he looked at her. He would never admit it, but she suspected that he was afraid of her.

Nadia jumped when three loud shots rang through the air and her throat went thick. Her immediate thought was Steve. She raced up the stairs, all thoughts of fatigue leaving her in her panic.

 _Please let him be okay. Please, please,_ she prayed inwardly. She reached the landing and ran through the open apartment door, which had signs of being kicked open. Their neighbour Kate was standing there, a gun in her hands and dressed in her scrubs. Nadia's eyes slid from her to Steve, who was peering around the corner of the room with a shocked expression on his face, his shield on his arm. Nadia breathed a sigh of relief, then she saw the bullet holes in the wall.

'I'm assigned to protect you.' Kate said, entering the apartment further with assured steps.

'On whose orders?' Steve demanded. Nadia followed Kate around the corner and saw Fury on the floor, shot, beaten and bleeding. She gasped and dropped next to him, reaching for the tea-towel next to her and pressing it against his wounds. She checked for his pulse.

'His.' Kate replied indicating Fury. Nadia turned her gaze upwards to Steve.

'What the hell happened?' She demanded as Kate pulled out a radio.

'Foxtrot is down and unresponsive I need EMT's.' She said and Nadia raised her eyebrows. It seemed their friendly neighbour wasn't a nurse like she'd claimed.

' _Do we have a twenty on the shooter_?' a voice replied through the radio and Nadia looked up again at Steve, gave a sharp nod and he turned towards the window.

'Tell them I'm in pursuit.' Steve said. Without another word he turned and launched himself through the window, following after Fury's assassin. Nadia turned back to her work.

She ripped Fury's shirt open and pursed her lips. The entry wounds were all close to major arteries. She could only do so much – he needed a hospital. She tore off her blouse and pressed it to the wounds, blood soaking the fabric within seconds. Her eyes took in his battered appearance and wondered what had happened. She took his pulse again and swore.

'Where are those EMT's?' She growled and Kate knelt next to her, the gun on the floor.

'They'll be here in thirty seconds.'

'He doesn't have thirty seconds.' Nadia snapped. As she spoke, Fury started seizing. She swore again. 'His lung is collapsing. I need a syringe, alcohol and gauze. Check the cabinet next to the kettle. Go!'

Kate jumped to her feet and grabbed the necessary items, laying them on the floor. She looked pale and panicked.

'I need you to swab the area around my fingers with the alcohol, then hand me the syringe.' Nadia instructed and Kate did so. Nadia counted Fury's ribs, prayed he would forgive her, then stabbed him in the chest, right across from his heart. She unscrewed the end of the syringe, leaving the needle embedded in his chest but allowing the air to flow into his lungs. He gasped, but remained unconscious. Nadia wrapped the gauze around the syringe. He was still losing too much blood.

The EMT's finally arrived and Nadia informed them of Fury's status. She helped them load him into the ambulance, insisting on riding along. He had just been shot at and she wasn't going to leave him alone with strangers. She helped in any way she could, but she knew he was in a bad shape. His eyes blinked open when they were almost at the hospital and his gaze met hers.

He mouthed something under the oxygen mask and she frowned. 'Don't talk, Nick.' She said, glancing at the front of the ambulance. 'You'll be alright. We're nearly at the hospital.'

He shook his head again and gasped through the mask one word, 'Hill.'

The ambulance screeched to a halt and the doors were wrenched open, Nadia took up her mantle as doctor once again, and aided the paramedics into the hospital, keeping pressure on Fury's wounds, feet riding on the rails of the gurney as Fury was pushed through the emergency room. A trail of blood dripped behind them on the floor.

'Switch with me. We got this.' The leading doctor said to her as she stayed in her place.

'He's my friend, you understand? You save him.' She said, meeting the doctor's eyes and giving him a look that put the fear of God into him. She hadn't considered Fury a friend until that moment, but upon his possible death, she realised that yes, he was. He wasn't always forthcoming, or pleasant, but he cared in his own strange way.

She stepped off the gurney and watched them wheel him into the operating room, gasping at the intensity of what had happened in the last few minutes. She soon followed them into the operating room, watching from behind thick glass as they prepped Nick for surgery.

Nadia felt numb. She wondered what would happen to SHIELD if he died. She wondered who had tried to kill him and how they had almost succeeded. Fury was one of the most paranoid people she knew, he always had a plan and stringent security, so who could this mystery assassin be if they got so close?

Then she began to worry about the possibility of Steve getting shot. He was a super solider, but he wasn't invincible. One bullet in the wrong place…she shook her head, peeling her medical gloves off and throwing them in the trash. She raised her hands to her hair and brushed it back, smudging dried blood on her cheek as she did so. She stood before the glass, eyes taking in every detail when she caught a glimpse of her reflection; Fury's blood was all over her shirt, her hands and upper arms, dry and vividly red. She jumped when Maria Hill walked into the observation room, eyes blazing. She looked pale and stony faced.

'What happened?' She asked. Her tone was clipped and all business.

'I don't know. He was like this when I got to the apartment.' Nadia replied honestly. 'I did everything I could. Steve went after the shooter, but I haven't heard anything since. I came in the ambulance with Nick.'

Maria nodded. 'Did he say anything?'

'Just one word.' Nadia said, turning her head to look at Hill, 'Your name.'

Maria's went blank and she turned her gaze away from Nadia, both watching the doctors work to save Nick Fury's life.

Steve came in not long afterwards, looking anxious. He came to stand next to Nadia, bracing his hands on the ledge and eyes locked on Fury's prone figure on the hospital bed. He simply shook his head and that was all Nadia needed to know that he hadn't caught the shooter. It just added to the mystery – who could possibly do this?

'Has anybody called Nat?' She asked and Agent Hill nodded. They said nothing else, eyes transfixed on the other side of the glass, the only sound coming from the machines on the other side as the doctors worked furiously to save a life. Minutes or perhaps hours later, Maria's phone rang, and she turned away to answer it, speaking in hushed tones.

Natasha stormed into the room soon after, green eyes wide and afraid, which scared Nadia to no end. She had never seen her friend look so frightened. She stood on the other side of Steve, eyes locked on Fury's face.

'Is he going to make it?' She asked.

'I don't know.' Steve said.

'He lost…so much blood.' Nadia mumbled.

'Tell me about the shooter.' Natasha said.

'He's fast, strong.' Steve hesitated before adding, 'Had a metal arm.'

Nadia's fears grew at the information. What if one of them was next? Shot in the back by an unknown assassin that could escape Captain America. Maria sidled up to Natasha, her phone call ended.

'Ballistics?' Natasha asked and Nadia could hear the worry in her voice. She was trying to act tough, to seem impartial to this, but she knew that Natasha cared for Nick.

'Three slugs, no rifling. Completely untraceable.' Hill replied, stoic.

'Soviet made.' Natasha all but whispered. Maria turned to her, surprised.

'Yeah.'

Nadia sensed it before it happened, a shift in Fury's body, the air in his lungs rushing out. The monitors started beeping loudly and quickly. The doctors on the other side of the glass moved to gather what they needed. She heard the conversation through a fog.

'Pressure's dropping.'

'He's in VTAC.'

'Crash cart's coming in.'

'Charge defibrillators!'

Then another voice, quieter, heartbroken, 'Don't do this to me, Nick.'

'Charging! Stand back. Three, two one…Clear!' The surgeon shocked Fury and his body jolted, but his heart rate didn't pick up. Nadia leaned over, hands on the ledge, unable to watch. She stared at her fingernails, caked with red, dried blood of the man dying in the next room.

'Charge again! Three, two, one, clear!' Nadia heard the next shock and waited for the sound of a heartbeat, but there was nothing. 'Get me epinephrine!'

'Pulse?'

'Negative.'

Nadia swallowed and let out a shaky breath. She could sense Steve's severe posture, his jaw set in a firm line. He was angry and sad at the same time.

'Please Nick, please, please…' she heard Natasha mumbling under her breath and Nadia knew it was too late. There was nothing to be done, and nothing to say. Tense moments passed by and finally the doctor asked for the time and pronounced Nick Fury dead.

Steve walked away from the window, one hand on his hip and the other covering his mouth, but Nadia did not go to comfort him. Instead, she took a few steps over and placed her arm around Natasha's shoulders. The spy stood staring at the body of her mentor and friend, face pale and hands shaking. Hill bowed her head, exhaled loudly and then turned away. Nadia heard the door open, and she was left alone with Natasha, neither saying a word. They watched as nurses removed tubing from Fury's body and then covered him with a sheet, wheeling him from the operating room.

Still they stood there, with Nadia's arm around Natasha's shoulders as they stared at the place where Fury had been.

'I can't believe he's gone.' Natasha croaked.

'I know.' Nadia murmured gently.

'Why was he at your apartment?' She asked, but in a tone that indicated that she was more thinking out loud than actually asking.

'I don't know. He was…like this…when I got there. I heard the, um, shots.' Nadia didn't know what was appropriate to say and stumbled over her words a little. But Natasha just nodded and didn't say anything at all.

The two stayed in the room for a while longer before they left to see his body, Natasha's eyes rimmed red from crying silently. There were things that needed to be arranged and Nadia knew that Natasha needed to see him one last time. So, they went into a private room where Nick's body was laying under a thin sheet. Steve was already in the room, standing guard over the body and leaning against the wall closest to the door with his head bowed and hands in his pockets.

Nadia walked over to the hospital bed and glanced at her friend. Natasha nodded and Nadia took a deep breath before she pulled back the sheet, revealing Nick Fury's face. It was still bruised and swollen, but his eyes were closed. His eyepatch was gone, and Nadia saw for the first time scarring around his left eye. Natasha crossed her arms and stared down at him, face blank. Nadia decided to give her a minute.

She turned back to Steve and he looked up at her when she stood next to him. The sun had long since risen, and it bathed the room in soft light. Steve didn't hug her or give her a kiss. His blue eyes met her grey ones and she knew exactly what he was thinking.

'It's not your fault.' She said softly, so that Natasha wouldn't hear.

'You weren't there. I should have seen him.' Steve shook his head.

'You're not perfect, Steve Rogers.' Nadia reminded him gently. 'That assassin was not some amateur with a gun. He knew exactly where to shoot from, where his target was. He had obviously attacked Nick earlier in the day and gave him those bruises which indicates that he's determined. Nothing was going to stop this guy. Nick wouldn't want you to blame yourself. He would just want you to get on with it and find who did this to him.'

Steve stared at her for a long while. She was still covered in Fury's blood, her glasses askew and he knew she was right. He sighed, nodded and said nothing. She turned around, standing by his side, and leaned her head against his shoulder. They watched Natasha as she simply stood there.

Maria Hill soon came in and stood next to them. 'We need to take him.' She said, and Steve glanced at her, then over to Natasha. He pushed himself off the wall and went over to her. Nadia caught Maria blinking rapidly, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

'I'll go with you. I can help with the transfer.' Nadia offered and Maria nodded.

'I was going to ask you to come along. I need your help with something.' She said and Nadia tilted her head to the side, but Maria didn't elaborate.

'Natasha.' Steve said, his voice low from lack of use. She didn't respond for a moment, standing stock still until she placed a hand on top of Fury's head and leaned down, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead. Without another word, she turned and swept past them, but Nadia saw tear tracks down her cheeks. Her face however, was blazing with determination and it scared her a little. Steve went after her.

'She's taking it hard.' Nadia remarked.

'We all are.' Maria said lowly. 'They were very close. Fury saved her life.'

After a minute or two, Nadia followed Steve out into the hallway and saw him standing there, alone. She stopped behind him.

'Natasha left?' She guessed.

Steve nodded then turned to face her. 'She'll come back. She just needs space. She's angry.'

'I don't blame her. If somebody shot you I'd be out for blood.' She said, crossing her arms. She shuddered at the thought of Steve dead and resolved never to think of it again.

'They want me back at SHIELD. Probably for a debriefing.' He said. 'I don't know how long I'll be, but I'll call you and meet up with you after.'

Nadia nodded. 'Okay. But as soon as you're done, you and I,' she said, meeting his gaze and feeling determination swell inside her, 'We're finding this guy and I'm putting a knife through his chest.'

'Count on it.' Steve nodded and leaned down, kissing her forehead and shooting her a small smile before turning to leave. He exited the hallway with the SHIELD STRIKE team trailing behind him. She hoped he would be okay and wouldn't blame himself too much for Fury's death.

She went to join Maria back in the small hospital room and the agent handed her a small bag. 'Clean clothes. They're not much but they'll do. You have enough time to shower before we have to go.'

'Okay.' Nadia said, taking the bag. 'Where are we going?'

'I'll explain on the way.' Was all Maria said and Nadia turned away, a bad feeling settling in the pit of her stomach.


	37. Chapter 37

**A.N – I know it's been a long time since I updated but I hope all my lovely readers will enjoy this chapter all the same. Please leave a review of what you think.**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own anything you recognise. The Avengers and the characters therein, belong to Marvel.**

Chapter Thirty-Seven

'So, are you going to tell me what's going on?' Nadia asked, arms crossed and watching as Nick Fury's body was loaded into a van, the black body bag morbid-looking and ominous. Maria Hill stood across from her, sweeping a critical eye over everything that was happening.

'Not here.' She said, casting a furtive glance around. Nadia huffed, but said nothing else, growing impatient but understanding the need for caution. Someone had just murdered Nick Fury. Who knew if it was a one-off assassination, or were all members of the Avengers and people associated with them going to be scratched off a list, one by one?

Nadia climbed into the car with Maria and the two of them pulled out into traffic, the van following close behind. Nadia felt better now that she'd showered, but Fury's blood on her hands had left a pit in the bottom of her stomach. Her uneasiness had grown when Maria Hill had asked for her help, and it was not easing in the silence that stretched between them in the car.

Maria leaned over and pressed a button on the dash and then heaved a sigh before she began speaking.

'Fury contacted me earlier yesterday.' Maria began, 'He wanted me to come to New York under shadow conditions. He gave me a few hours to get here and by the time I did, he was off the grid, his car totalled and someone had tried to kill him. He didn't say why he needed me here so quickly and urgently, but if it wasn't something important, something that worried him, he wouldn't have asked me to come here. He would have just handled it himself.'

'What do you think it could be?'

'I think it's something to do with the SHIELD intel Romanoff retrieved the other day from the Lumerian Star. He contacted me. He went to you and Rogers for help. Those aren't things he would do if he wasn't…scared.' She frowned when she said the last word, as if Nick Fury being afraid of anything was a foreign concept. Nadia could see the logic in what Hill had told her, but was still confused.

'You still haven't told me why you need me.'

'You're a doctor. You might not practise anymore, but you know what you're doing. The doctors at the hospital said if you hadn't been there, hadn't done what you did, Nick wouldn't have made it to the hospital.'

Nadia shifted in her seat uncomfortably. 'Nick is dead. Why do you need a doctor?'

'Technically I don't. I already have one I can trust. However, two is better than one. Not to mention, that assassin might come after you next.' Maria said, 'And you're too valuable to lose.'

'Thanks.' Nadia muttered, turning her head away to gaze out the window. She didn't know how she felt about being seen as _valuable_. It made her feel like…property, which was unsettling and infuriating. She noticed as they drove that they weren't going to SHIELD headquarters like she thought and stared at Maria suspiciously.

'Where are you taking me?' she asked. Maria's lip turned upwards in a smirk.

'Somewhere SHIELD can't find us.' She replied. 'Do you have your phone?'

'Yes.'

Maria wriggled her fingers from Nadia to hand it over, and she hesitated only for a moment before placing the phone in Hill's hand. Maria wound down the window and then threw the phone out of the car.

'Hey!' Nadia protested. 'What the hell?!'

'They'll try to track you.' Maria explained. 'Look, SHIELD can't be trusted right now. Fury had his suspicions and I'm not taking any chances.'

'I can take care of myself.' Nadia crossed her arms.

'I know that, believe me. But what would Captain Rogers do if anything happened to you? Do you really think he'd react rationally?' At Nadia's silence, Maria forged on. 'No. The best place for you right now is off the grid.'

'What about Steve?'

'Don't worry. I have a plan.'

Steve's mind was a whirlwind of activity. Why had somebody killed Nick? What was on the USB he had given Steve? Should he have told Nadia, the person he trusted more than anybody in the world? What about Natasha? She had looked at him and called him a liar. It was a fair observation, but it had still hurt Steve. He just didn't know if he could trust her with her history as a spy. She was a master manipulator and Steve knew he would fall into her trap if he let himself.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as he approached Alexander Pierce's office. He was now in command after Nick Fury's death, and had opened an investigation into the incident. Since it was a formal interview, Steve had changed into his suit, his shield on his back and his face blank. He saw Mr Peirce speaking with his former neighbour, the woman who identified as Agent 13.

She looked sheepish as she passed him, but still greeted him. 'Captain Rogers.'

'Neighbour.' He replied without a sideways glance. Steve was finding it harder and harder to trust people these days.

Alexander Peirce was an older man, with sandy coloured hair and a deeply lined face. His thick rimmed black glasses framed eyes that held emotions and knowledge that Steve tried to ignore. He was cradling a mug in his left hand.

'Ah, Captain.' He said, extending a hand and maintaining eye contact. 'I'm Alexander Peirce.'

'Sir.' Steve returned the handshake, noticing that the new director had a frim grip. 'It's an honour.'

'The honour is mine, Captain.' Mr Pierce turned half away from him to allow Steve to enter the office. 'My father served in the 101st.'

On the coffee table there was a manila file, thick and full of papers. Mr Pierce gestured for Steve to relax. Steve slipped his shield from his back and watched as Pierce said nothing for a moment. Instead, he handed Steve a photo. It showed a younger Peirce and Fury, without the lines of age on their faces, a few less scars, and Fury still had two eyes.

'That photo was taken five years after Nick and I met.' Pierce explained, hanging his blazer on the back of a conference table and gathering up folders from a previous meeting. 'When I was at State Department in Bogota. ELN rebels took the embassy, and security got me out, but the rebels took hostages. Nick was deputy chief for the SHIELD station there. And he comes to me with a plan. He wants to storm the building through the sewers. I said, "No, we'll negotiate." Turned out the ELN didn't negotiate, so they put out a kill order. They stormed the basement, and what did they find? They find it empty. Nick had ignored my direct order and carried out an unauthorized military operation on foreign soil. He saved the lives of a dozen political officers, including my daughter.'

Pierce settled himself into the fashionable chair next to where Steve stood and placed the files on the coffee table in front of him. Steve sat down, a swirl of emotions within him. He'd never known that about Nick, and if Steve was honest with himself, he probably would have done something similar if he had been in Nick's shoes. He and Nick were both men of action.

'So, you gave him a promotion.' Steve's mouth tilted upwards in a small smile.

'He never gave me any cause to regret it.' Pierce said, eyes serious and unflinching. Steve looked away, nodding slightly. Pierce inched forward, a grave expression on his face. 'Captain…why was Nick at your apartment last night?'

Steve knew he had to lie, because even though this man appeared to be everything he seemed, Steve just couldn't trust him. 'I don't know.' He said with a dismayed shake of his head.

'Did you know it was bugged?'

Steve's jaw clenched. He wasn't happy about that. He and Nadia had discussed personal things in their apartment, a place where their privacy should have been assured. He shuddered to think of all those times they had been vocal about sex, about their feelings, only for some SHIELD agent to be listening in.

'I did.' Steve replied curtly, his distaste evident. 'Because Nick told me.'

'Did he tell you he was the one who bugged it?' Pierce replied quickly. Steve didn't answer which was what Pierce probably expected from the way his face changed. He reached over to a small tablet and hit a button on the surface. 'I want to show you something.'

Steve turned as a screen came to life behind them. Batroc appeared in an interrogation room, his hands bound and a cut on his face. Steve looked at Pierce.

'Is that live?' he asked.

'Yeah, they picked him up last night in a not-so-safe house in Algiers.'

Doubt filled Steve, his eyes still on the screen. 'Are you saying he's a suspect? Assassination isn't Batroc's line.'

'No, it's more complicated than that. Batroc was hired anonymously to attack the Lemurian Star and he was contacted by e-mail and paid by wire transfer. And then the money was run through seventeen fictitious accounts, the last one going to a holding company that was registered to a Jacob Veech.' Pierce said, handing Steve another set of files.

'Am I supposed to know who that is?' Steve wasn't faking his obliviousness this time.

'Not likely. Veech died six years ago. His last address was 14-35 Elmhurst Drive. When I first met Nick, his mother lived at 14-37.'

It took a second for Steve to register just what Pierce was saying. Or rather, what he wasn't saying. 'Are you suggesting Fury hired the pirates? Why?'

'The prevailing theory was that the hijacking was a cover for the acquisition and sale of classified intelligence. The sale went sour and that led to Nick's death.'

Something heavy and leaden landed in Steve's stomach and he knew it had been a mistake to come here. Steve wasn't sure what was going on, but it had something to do with the files that Natasha had recovered on the Lumerian star.

With barely contained anger, Steve said, 'If you really knew Nick Fury, you'd know that's not true.'

Pierce nodded, like Steve had just passed a test. 'Why do you think we're talking?' he said. He rose to his feet and Steve did the same. Pierce wandered over to the tall window that overlooked most of Washington, while Steve stayed where he was, eyes locked on the other man in the room.

'See, I took a seat on the Council not because I wanted to but because Nick asked me to, because we were both realists. We knew that despite all the diplomacy and the handshaking and the rhetoric, that to build a really better world sometimes means having to tear the old one down. And that makes enemies.' Pierce turned around and met Steve's unwavering gaze. Steve tucked his thumbs into the belt of his suit and didn't break eye contact as Pierce walked slowly towards him. 'Those people that call you dirty because you got the guts to stick your hands in the mud and try to build something better. And the idea that those people could be happy today, makes me really, really angry.'

Here, Pierce hesitated a moment, dropping his gaze from Steve's face to the star on his uniform. When he spoke again, his tone was different. Darker. 'Captain, you were the last one to see Nick alive, well, you and that doctor of yours. I don't think that's an accident, and I don't think you do either. So, I'm gonna ask again, why was he there?'

Steve's heartrate picked up in his chest, but he fought to keep his face neutral. He decided to reply with a half-truth. 'He told me not to trust anyone.'

'I wonder if that included him.' Pierce remarked. Steve had thought the same thing more times than he could count in the last twenty-four hours.

'I'm sorry.' Steve said, and he was. 'Those were his last words. Excuse me.'

Steve picked up his shield and slipped it onto his back, making his way to the exit, his head ducked down like a child who had been scolded.

'Captain.' Steve turned around again and Pierce's next words worried him a little. 'Somebody murdered my friend and I'm gonna find out why. Anyone gets in my way, they're gonna regret it. _Anyone_.'

Steve jerked a single nod. 'Understood.'

He swept from the office and headed for the elevator. He needed to get out. Now.


End file.
